PRETORIA: South Africa will present a “broad, generous and ambitious” new trade proposal to the United States in a bid to avoid 30 per cent tariffs on some exports, government ministers said on Tuesday (Aug 12).
Washington imposed the duties on Friday, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, despite Pretoria’s efforts to negotiate an arrangement that could avert major job losses.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen said details of the offer would be made public later but confirmed that measures to increase imports of US poultry, blueberries and pork had been finalised.
“When the document is eventually made public, I think you would see it as a very broad, generous and ambitious offer to the United States on trade,” Steenhuisen told a press briefing.
Officials have warned the tariffs could cost around 30,000 jobs in an economy already struggling with 33.2 per cent unemployment, according to official figures released on Tuesday.
“Our goal is to demonstrate that South African exports do not pose a threat to US industries and that our trade relationship is, in fact, complementary,” Trade Minister Parks Tau said.
The US is South Africa’s third-largest trading partner after the European Union and China, but South African exports make up only 0.25 per cent of total US imports, Tau noted.
