While I can feel Francois Theron’s frustration over the ANC’s lack of urgency in trade negotiations with the US before the August 1 deadline, the possibility exists that the ANC doesn’t actually want a deal to be done (“Sinking SA no crisis,” July 24).
Locally, it would in effect mean the end of BEE legislation, with all its possibilities for corruption, and internationally SA would have to change its stance on the Palestinian question. In any case, SA is the “s” in Brics, which is moving away from the US and in the process of forming an alternative global trading arrangement.
This situation has gone too far to be reversed. The African Growth and Opportunity Act is already a dead letter. Thirty percent tariffs may come on top of a 10% surcharge for Brics membership. There will be economic hardship in SA on a level most have not yet seen.
In the case of our motor industry I fear President Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed to take one for the Brics team. In any case, Chinese imports are already taking over the local market and maybe local assembly will take place to improve the optics.
The world is rapidly dividing itself into opposing blocs, between which trade will be reduced to practically zero.
James Cunningham
Camps Bay
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