Africa-Press – South-Africa. The government says 30,000 jobs are likely to be affected by the 30% tariff imposed by the US on South African exports.
This was revealed by trade, industry and competition department director-general Simphiwe Hamilton during a joint media briefing with the international relations and co-operation department on Monday.
“We base this on consultations we have with all sectors of the economy — from automotive to agriculture — and all the other sectors that are going to be affected, and now we are at about 30,000 jobs that could be affected,” Hamilton said.
South Africa faces the highest tariff rate in Sub-Saharan Africa and from August 7 products exported to the US will be subjected to the 30% levy.
During the briefing, international relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola said the government had been strengthening trade and investment partnerships with various global partners.
Those efforts were starting to bear fruit with the focus on markets across Africa as well as in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
“Our announcement on the clean trade and investment partnership with the EU in March has unlocked a R90bn investment package that has been initially committed,” Lamola said.
“This [partnership] also aims to unlock new market access opportunities for South Africa, including the export of sustainable aviation fuel by Sasol and the exports of hybrid and electric vehicles.
“While facing global trade challenges, South Africa is proactively building a more resilient agricultural sector.
“We’ve made significant progress in opening up vast new markets such as China and Thailand, securing vital protocols for products such as citrus and others. With China being a $200bn [R3.59-trillion] market, we are confidently expanding our reach and creating new opportunities for our agricultural producers.”
Lamola said the government has not been idle and is proactively and collaboratively working to diversify South Africa’s trade portfolio.
In his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the US’s decision to impose the 30% tariff on South African imports highlighted the urgency with which the country must adapt to the increasingly turbulent conditions in global trade.
Ramaphosa said the US was South Africa’s second-largest trading partner by country and the tariff measures would significantly affect industries that depend heavily on US-bound exports, with the workers they employ and the effect on the national fiscus.
“Domestic sectors such as agriculture, automotive and textiles have historically benefited from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
“Our trade relations have historically been complementary in nature,” Ramaphosa said. “South African exports do not compete with US producers and do not pose a threat to US industry. It remains our aspiration that this should continue.
“Largely, our exports are inputs into US industries and therefore support the US’s industrial base. South Africa is also the biggest investor from the African continent into the US, with 22 of our companies investing in a number of sectors including mining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and the food chain.”
Ramaphosa said government had been engaging the US to enhance mutually beneficial trade and investment relations and all communication channels remained open.
“Our priority is protecting our export industries. We will continue to engage the US in an attempt to preserve market access for our products. We must also accelerate the diversification of our export markets, particularly by deepening intra-African trade.”
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