Clothing is one of Zimbabwe’s main industries. Since the import of ready-made garments has a huge impact on the local garment manufacturing industry, the Zimbabwean government encourages the import of garment raw materials to vigorously develop the country’s garment processing industry and create more jobs for its people. To this end, the country’s government intends to reduce import tariffs on raw materials and increase import tariffs on garments.
However, Zimbabwe’s domestic clothing industry has problems such as old equipment and backward technology. Not only can the delivery time not be guaranteed, but the clothing styles are outdated and the prices are not cheap. In this case, most Zimbabweans still prefer imported clothing. Currently, Chinese clothing occupies a huge share in Zimbabwe.
Locals call for restrictions on garment imports
Currently, the Zimbabwe Garment Manufacturing Association is persuading the government to introduce a ban on the import of finished garments. The association said that imported cheap clothing has seriously disrupted the domestic clothing market. Zimbabwe imports US$300 million in textiles and clothing every year, a large part of which is ready-made clothing.
In addition, local clothing manufacturers called on the government to reduce import tariffs on fabrics and other components to 10%, while significantly increasing import tariffs on garments to 65%.
Gershem Pasi, head of the Zimbabwe Taxation Administration, said: “Clothing is an important industry in Zimbabwe. National clothing manufacturers have been complaining to us, claiming that they cannot compete with cheap imported clothing. They said that after working hard to produce clothing , but were driven out of the local market by imported clothing. At present, many large clothing manufacturing companies have given up production and only engage in import trade. There is not an inch of cloth or a button in their factories.”
However, if the government increases import tariffs on garments on a large scale, clothing smuggling will become very rampant. A few years ago, Zimbabwe raised tariffs on clothing to the same level as on luxury goods, sparking opposition from many importers. Although these protective policies can protect the country’s garment industry from strong competition, it has many problems that make it difficult to meet market demand, such as insufficient production of fabrics, insufficient power supply, and coal shortages.
Due to uncompetitive prices, domestic chain clothing retailers are unwilling to buy local clothing and prefer cheap imported clothing. This has resulted in a large number of workers and equipment in local clothing production companies being idle, and the production capacity utilization rate is only about 45% to 55%. .
Chinese clothing is very popular
Although the policy is not supportive, many well-known Zimbabwean retailers, such as Edgars, Topics, TMSupermarkets, Truworths, etc., still take the risk of importing large quantities of ready-made clothing from abroad, especially China.
The overall income of Zimbabweans is not high and they are very fond of Chinese products. In Harare, the capital, most locals approve of clothing from China. Many young people think that Chinese clothing is fashionable and cheap, while locally produced fashion styles are old, low-quality, and not cheap. Under this circumstance, Chinese clothing has been very successful in entering the Zimbabwe market.
Since locally produced clothing is not favored, many clothing companies are unwilling to produce their own garments and prefer to import them from abroad, which is both trouble-free and profitable. Some well-known local clothing manufacturers are facing bankruptcy due to problems such as backward equipment and technology. However, by importing textiles and finished clothing from China, some have gradually got out of trouble and even turned a profit.
In addition to clothing, other products produced in China have increasingly become an indispensable part of Zimbabwean life, such as home appliances and mobile phones. An importer said that Chinese products with better quality and relatively higher prices are currently rare in the Zimbabwean market, so some people label Chinese products as “low price and low quality”. But in fact, China is the “world’s factory” with strong manufacturing capabilities that can produce low, medium and high-grade goods. There are still many good-quality Chinese goods, but the prices are higher.
