South Africa will present a revised trade deal proposal to Washington on Tuesday, aiming to reduce the 30% tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on its exports last week.
- South Africa will present a revised trade proposal to the United States aiming to reduce newly imposed tariffs.
- The proposal responds to the points raised in a U.S. trade report and includes significant concessions.
- South Africa has been in long negotiations, offering economic investments and purchases of U.S. natural gas.
South Africa will present a revised trade deal proposal to Washington on Tuesday, the country’s trade minister announced, aiming to reduce the 30% tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on its exports last week.
“We went to cabinet last week and got approval of what would constitute the latest offer to the US,” South Africa Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau told reporters in Pretoria. Tau said he will submit the documents to the US “now.”
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“The new offer substantively responds to the issues the U.S. has raised in the 2025 National Trade Estimates Report,” Tau said. He did not provide further details on the offer.
South Africa had been in talks with the U.S. for months, offering to purchase American liquefied natural gas and pledging $3.3 billion in investments in U.S. industries to avert the tariff hike. However, those proposals fell short.
Jobs and industries at risk
The tariff, the steepest in sub-Saharan Africa, threatens roughly 30,000 jobs in South Africa, particularly in the automotive and agriculture industries.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen previously noted that Trump’s team considered South Africa’s initial trade offer insufficiently ambitious, according to Reuters.
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Steenhuisen, who also leads the second-largest party in the coalition government, described the revised proposal as “broad, generous and open,” adding that it meets the ambition criteria.
Steenhuisen warned that the 30% tariffs could remain in place unless the South African government adjusted certain domestic race-related policies, such as affirmative action, which Trump has criticised.
The United States stands as South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner, trailing only China, with trade between the two nations totalling $8.8 billion last year, according to data from the South African Revenue Service.
South Africa is already exploring alternative markets to cushion the impact of the United States’ 30% tariffs on its exports.
