No respite' in tariff pause

TRADE DEALS: AMERICA WILL USE 90-DAY PERIOD TO NEGOTIATE GOOD TERMS, SAY EXPERTS

- Brian Sokutu

While South Africa has seemingly gained some respite from US President Donald Trump's punitive tariffs, which dropped from 31% to 10%, analysts cautioned against any celebration. They said the US government planned to use the 90-day pause period to lock countries into negotiations aimed at gaining favorable trade deals for America.

During an interview on 702 on the tariffs crisis yesterday, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau confirmed South Africa has been included in the 10% list of countries in the 90-day pause period.

Unlike China, SA has resolved not to adopt a retaliatory stance in response to the US tariffs.

"We've received a note about the decisions that were made yesterday and our team did have interface with the US embassy yesterday with regards to the overall engagements with the US," said Tau during the radio interview.

He said the US sought to achieve "a mutually beneficial" arrangement during negotiations.

"They have seen that the tariffs and trade structures have been disproportionately skewed in our favor and would want to have a discussion around that," he said.