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Trade Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau.
Trade Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says they are still trying to make sense of the new tariffs imposed on South Africa by the United States.
Last night, the US President Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on all imports to the US.
Tau says it’s not clear how the US arrived at the 60% duties that South Africa is imposing on US goods into the country.
Speaking at the Gauteng Investment Conference in Johannesburg, Tau says South African tariffs for US goods are much lower.
“We are all trying to work out how the US arrived at 60% discounted to 30%, as the tariffs that we are having, and therefore the discounts. In reality, our tariffs average on the basis of most favoured nations, the tariffs estimated at 7,6%, and that’s our calculations. And of course, we are speculating what the US is calculating and this could include the trade balance, and this could include other considerations. But at this point, we are going to need clarity from the US as to how they arrived at the number and how they would want to engage. I think as indicated by the President, we are committed to engaging with the United States of America, as we demonstrate with all other countries that are affected by this trade tariff that they’ve imposed so that we can seek clarity, but also to engage about the future of our Trade relations going forward.”
Minister Parks Tau responds to the Trump administration’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs
Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on all imports entering the United States. A baseline duty of 10% will be levied against all countries, along with “reciprocal” tariffs on around 100 nations with some of the highest import taxes on US goods.
Trump announces 30% tariffs for SA imports:
