South Africa awaits a response from the United States regarding a crucial trade proposal submitted last month, hoping to avert substantial tariffs. With only four days remaining until August 1, a looming 30% levy on its exports is poised to commence.
Pretoria has maintained strict silence on its delicate negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration amidst deteriorating bilateral relations. These tensions are complicated by South Africa’s domestic race policy and a genocide case against Israel.
Kaamil Alli, spokesperson for Trade Minister Parks Tau, confirmed South Africa has not yet received a substantive response to their proposed framework deal.
He added via text message that “negotiations are ongoing,” indicating continued efforts despite the tight deadline. President Trump has consistently imposed new tariffs globally before often delaying their full implementation to facilitate further negotiations.
This pattern was recently seen with the European Union and Japan, where tariffs were lowered after initial threats of higher rates. Trump indicated on Monday his expectation for the U.S. to set tariffs between 15% and 20% for nations failing to reach a negotiated trade agreement.
However, he did not explicitly confirm if this potential range would specifically apply to South Africa’s exports. South Africa announced on July 1 that its objective was to achieve a maximum tariff application of 10% on its goods.
There are also hopes for specific product exemptions from any imposed duties. The Democratic Alliance, a significant opposition party, expressed concern about being excluded from details of the trade talks.
They fear that a crucial deal remains “far from completion.” A farmers’ association implored President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday to take urgent action to mitigate potential job losses.
A spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of Agriculture confirmed the latest proposal, submitted in June, represented a revised draft from the initial May offer. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not provide any immediate response regarding the ongoing discussions.
The United States currently stands as South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner, directly following China. South Africa’s central bank governor warned the proposed 30% tariff could lead to approximately 100,000 job losses.
These losses would severely impact the agriculture and automotive sectors. Last week, Trade Minister Tau signaled some progress by stating South Africa had signed a “condition precedent” document with the U.S. trade office.
However, he provided no specific details about its content. Boitshoko Ntshabele, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association, stated that without a favorable trade deal or fresh produce concession, local job losses before the next season are a certainty.
