Cape Town – South Africa has been included in the US’s 90-day tariff pause period, reducing tariffs from 31% to 10%.
In a significant move on April 9, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day suspension of most new tariffs under his “reciprocal” trade policy, following appeals from over 75 countries.
However, he simultaneously increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, citing Beijing’s lack of respect for global markets.
Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 9, 2025
Trade, Industry, and Competition Minister Parks Tau confirmed this during an interview on 702, saying that SA has engaged with the US embassy on the matter.
“We’ve received the note about the decisions that were made yesterday and our team did have interface with the US embassy with regards to the overall engagements with the USA. So, yes, we have received confirmation that in fact the 30% has actually been removed from the list so far,” the minister said.
Unlike China, SA has chosen not to retaliate against the tariffs.
Tau emphasised that the US is seeking a “mutually beneficial” trade arrangement, as they believe existing trade structures favour South Africa.
He also highlighted efforts to revive previous trade and investment facilitation agreements to normalise trade relations between the two countries.
However, tariffs on automobiles, steel, and aluminum remain unchanged at 25%.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
