South Africa seeks to have punitive US tariffs dropped

South Africa will push to have US President Donald Trump's 30% tariff — which has been stayed for 90 days — permanently dropped “dramatically” or to the baseline 10% implemented on the country’s major competitors for agricultural exports.

- Lyse Comins

Earlier this month Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports to the US and additional reciprocal tariffs for dozens of countries, including 30% for South Africa. Days later, after global financial markets took a pummelling, he suspended the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, placing all countries on the flat 10% regime.

On Wednesday, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen said an interministerial committee, comprising himself, his trade, industry and competition counterpart Parks Tau and International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, had been formed to take a “two-pronged approach” of negotiating with the US while seeking alternative markets for local exports.

“Clearly there’s going to be turmoil ahead and obviously the tariff issues are of great concern to South Africa,” Steenhuisen told a briefing on the sidelines of a G20 agricultural working group meeting.