President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that South Africa is in talks with the US trade representative to reduce tariffs levied by US President Donald Trump after telling world leaders that “trade is now being used as a weapon”.
The US is South Africa’s second biggest trading partner. Trump in August imposed a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa after Ramaphosa’s government made several unsuccessful attempts to secure a trade agreement.
“We want tariffs that President Trump is seeking to levy on us and has already started, to be reduced,” Ramaphosa told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Ramaphosa likened trade to a weapon earlier in the day, in remarks delivered at the UN General Assembly.
“Geopolitical shocks and unprecedented trade policy volatility are destabilising the global economy and jeopardising a critical source of development finance,” he said. “In fact, trade is now being used as a weapon against a number of countries in the world.”
Ramaphosa also said the African Growth Opportunity Act treaty should continue. Agoa is a preferential trade deal, offering duty-free quota-free access for thousands of products for 32 African nations. Last year, Agoa did not get a vote in the US congress.
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Trump’s return to the White House in January has further cast doubt on an extension, due to his tariff-driven trade stance. South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, enjoyed the lion’s share of the benefit. — Doyinsola Oladipo, (c) 2025 Reuters
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