Washington’s request that SA cuts its tariffs on US imports to match those negotiated under the Sadc-EU trade agreement could be the first step towards normalising strained trading relations with the Trump administration.
This is according to Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen.
She said an attempt to realign the tariffs must be handled with urgency as it would be a simpler win that would quickly bring the certainty needed by SA exporters.
“It is vital that absolute urgency is placed on aligning the tariffs, as per the request of the US, to the Sadc-EU Economic Partnership Agreement,” Van Huyssteen said.
“If these negotiations are successful, this would help to address the immediate uncertainty and concerns facing those businesses that export directly to the US.”
She was speaking after trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau revealed at a media conference on Tuesday that Washington had requested that SA lower tariffs on the US and align them with the Sadc-EU Economic Partnership Agreement.
“SA continues discussions with industry in this regard, and in consultation with other members of the Sadc customs union, will identify specific lines to respond to this request,” Tau said.
He said SA would submit a revised offer for a trade deal to Washington, to try to lower the 30% tariff rate that US President Donald Trump imposed on exports to the US last week.
The Eastern Cape’s automobile sector — a major exporter to the US — is expected to be particularly hard hit by the duties, with agricultural exports also likely to take a big hit, putting thousands of jobs in jeopardy.
The government has tried for months to negotiate a trade deal with the US but failed to reach an agreement before Trump’s deadline.
SA’s exports to the US have been hit with the highest tariff rate in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Cabinet has approved that SA submits a revised offer as a basis for negotiations with the US,” Tau said.
The revised offer was expected to be submitted later on Tuesday.
“The new offer substantively responds to the issues the US has raised in the 2025 National Trade Estimates Report,” he said, adding that SA had addressed some sanitary and phytosanitary issues raised in the report.
He did not provide details on the offer.
Containers of poultry and pork were to be shipped from the US to SA in two weeks, showing that these issues had been resolved, Tau said.
Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen had previously said that Trump’s team believed SA’s initial offer for a trade deal was not ambitious enough.
But Steenhuisen said the new offer was a “broad, generous and open offer that I think meets the ambition criteria”.
“If one were to look at this through the trade and tariff perspective, I think this offer represents something that would be good for the US and also good for SA,” he said.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Steenhuisen said there was a risk the 30% tariffs would remain unless the SA government changed some domestic race policies, such as affirmative action, which Trump has criticised. — Additional reporting by Reuters
The Herald
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