Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa must broaden its trade relations and seek a better-balanced export footprint in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, said Deputy Trade Minister Zuko Godlimpi, citing opportunities in southeast Asia.
“Our export basket remains too concentrated on a handful of markets and too dependent on raw materials rather than value-added products,” Godlimpi told an event in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“Like a butterfly that pollinates multiple flowers, South Africa must establish trade flows across every continent.”
Trump has slapped South Africa with 30% tariffs on some goods entering the US, threatening the country’s automotive and agricultural sectors.
Thousands of jobs are at risk and the central bank sees the levies shaving off 0.4 percentage points of gross domestic product this year.
An upcoming visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa to southeast Asia later this month will be a chance to discuss trade and investment with partners that Godlimpi saw as critical to South Africa’s diversification strategy.
“Nations in southeast Asia represent dynamic, fast-growing markets with young populations,” he said. “Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines need reliable suppliers of quality goods and services.”
Godlimpi also urged South Africa to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which offers the potential to access a market of 1.3 billion people.
“Our agricultural exports to Africa already demonstrate the enormous appetite for South African products,” he said. “We must leverage our manufacturing base, financial services, logistics capabilities and established brands to become Africa’s preferred partner.”
South Africa’s agriculture minister signed a trade protocol with China to export five types of stone fruit to the Asian country for the first time.
The agreement signed by John Steenhuisen and Sun Meijun, the head of China’s General Administration of Customs, opens the market for the export of apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and prunes, and could unlock about R400 million for South Africa over the next five years, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Wednesday.
It marks the first time China has negotiated access for multiple types of stone fruit from a single country under a single deal, the ministry added.
Steenhuisen has invited a technical team from China to inspect South Africa’s cherry and blueberry orchards and packing houses, and if that proceeds smoothly market access for those fruits may be granted within the next harvest cycle, the ministry said.
Source: dailyinvestor
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
