South Africa: Trade talks with US focused on steepened tariffs
As US President Donald Trump continues using strategic pressure to take advantage of nations seeking to maintain relations with the US, South Africa becomes his next target, according to Africa News via Reuters.Â
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Trump spoke of bilateral trade issues and ongoing negotiations via a telephone conversation held on August 6th. Both leaders are seemingly dedicated to continuing discussions relating to trade through their trade teams, despite the fact that recent setbacks over high tariffs have come to fruition.Â
A 30% US tariff was imposed on South African imports by Trump, which has meant South Africa is experiencing significant economic concerns. This has been combatted by the launch of an “Export Support Desk” by Pretoria, as well as the creation of a support package that is aimed towards automotive and agriculture sectors. This may risk tens of thousands of jobs.
Despite this, the South African rand has demonstrated resilience due to increasing gold prices and the weakening US dollar. The rand is trading at around 17.69 to the US dollar.
Trump has been heightening tariff rates on other countries aside from South Africa, such as India. He signed an executive order on August 6th that doubled the tariff rate on Indian goods from 25% to 50% due to India’s purchase of Russian Federation oil. Trump also threatened other countries that maintained relations with Russia, by claiming he would increase tariff rates by a colossal figure of 100%.
The willingness to communicate between Ramaphosa and Trump shows that there may yet be hope for South Africa. Negotiations are set to continue, and aim to ease the economic strain between the two nations.
Africa News via Reuters, Maghrebi.org
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