SA and the US are to begin bilateral talks this week, after the Trump administration’s imposition of global tariffs that disrupted markets and heightened fears of an economic downturn.
The talks will be held in SA and come after the appointment of the US chargé d’affaires David Greene in March and that of SA special envoy to the US Mcebisi Jonas.
Trade, industry & competition minister (DTIC) Parks Tau is expected to lead the talks, the first rounds of face-to-face negotiations between the two countries. The US is SA’s second- largest trading partner.
SA, together with a number of other African countries, is a beneficiary of preferential access to US markets under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Agoa comes up for review in the US Congress in September 2025 and the Trump government has warned some countries could see themselves off the list of beneficiaries.
The US president’s imposition of tariffs also rendered SA’s preferential access to US markets under Agoa obsolete.
SA is pushing to reset its relations with the US and it is expected to press for a renegotiation of the tariffs. Trump has since temporarily suspended the tariffs he imposed on about 60 trading partners, including SA.
“We have not received a note verbale [formal diplomatic communication] on what those conditions are,” Tau told Business Day.
“We will communicate with the US embassy about a set of issues around which we need to engage in terms of trade but also around investments.
“It’s still our intention to go to the US [to discuss new trade deals], but right now we are sorting out issues of logistics,” Tau said.
The tension between Pretoria and Washington has been a pressure point for the government of national unity, which aims to maintain and improve economic and diplomatic ties.
SA’s largest export to the US, platinum, could be spared from looming import duties, offering a measure of relief to the country’s mining sector.
However, its automotive industry is unlikely to be as fortunate. The sector is SA’s second-biggest exporter to the US and is likely to be among the hardest hit by the proposed tariffs.
The automotive sector is one of the backbone industries in
SA and the imposition of tariffs by a key market such as the US raises concerns over job losses and investment.
CEO of Business Leadership SA Busi Mavuso said SA should renegotiate trade relations with the US as demanded by the Trump administration “and aim to clear trade barriers for the benefit of both our economies”.
“The first step is to try to engage US leaders to shift course. US foreign policy, through Agoa, has long reflected an understanding of the strategic importance of growing Africa’s economies and building them as source markets for US consumers,” Mavuso said in a weekly newsletter on Tuesday.
“Second, by ensuring the US is an important market for SA’s products, the US ensures it is a strategic priority for the SA government.
“If the US were closed to SA goods, SA’s wider geopolitical interests would shift to other strategic relationships, to the cost of US influence.”
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