LETTER: Brazil wants SA to chicken out
Brazil will keep prices low until it destroys our industry and then dictate prices
Reading Mike Schussler’s article (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2021-06-02-mike-schussler-why-do-brazils-chickens-cross-the-ocean-to-fly-over-sa-tariffs/), and the response of Francois Baird (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2021-06-03-letter-schusslers-findings-on-poultry-imports-require-urgent-investigation/) from FairPlay, it’s clear to me that there’s a poultry price war between Brazil and SA and winning is seen as more important than a fair fight.
It is a common strategy when two entities are in a price war that the bigger one will price the other one out of the market. You will lower your price and make little or no margin on your product until the opponent is dead ... and then you can charge what you want. Presumably this is what Brazil is doing here. If Schussler’s findings are true, and imports are evading the tariffs that are due, our authorities have to act. SA’s chicken producers play by the rules, but we cannot compete if the playing f...
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