- Title: South Africa not planning to retaliate over Trump's tariffs
- Date: 4th April 2025
- Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (APRIL 4, 2025) (REUTERS) SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION, RONALD LAMOLA, AND MINISTER OF TRADE, INDUSTRY, AND COMPETITION, PARKS TAU, ENTERING AUDITORIUM AND SITTING DOWN TAU SMILING TAU'S SPOKESPERSON, YAMKELA FANISI, SPEAKING AS TAU AND LAMOLA LISTEN LAMOLA LISTENING AND WRITING NOTES VARIOUS OF JOURNALIST ASK
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Economy Finance Government Politics South Africa Tariff Trade Trump USA
- Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
- City: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Africa,Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001425204042025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:South Africa has no immediate plans to retaliate against the United States over tariffs announced by President Donald Trump this week and will instead seek to negotiate exemptions and quota agreements, senior government officials said on Friday (April 4).
Trump imposed a 31% tariff on U.S. imports from South Africa on Wednesday, when he announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and higher targeted duties on dozens of countries.
The United States is South Africa's second-largest bilateral trading partner after China.
Foreign affairs minister Ronald Lamola said Trump's tariffs effectively nullified the benefits African countries
had enjoyed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
The AGOA initiative, which grants qualifying African nations duty-free access to the U.S. market, is due to expire in September. And Trump's far-reaching tariffs suggest that a renewal of the trade accord enacted in 2000 is now unlikely.
The actions by the United States underscored the need for South Africa to accelerate efforts to diversify its export markets, the minister said, mentioning markets in Asia and the Middle East as potential opportunities.
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