The second biggest party in South Africa’s ruling coalition thinks the 30% tariff Donald Trump imposed on its exports to the U.S. will stay unless the government changes some domestic race policies such as affirmative action, its leader said on Monday.
The government of Africa’s biggest economy has tried for months to negotiate a trade deal with Washington but failed to reach agreement before Trump’s deadline.
Its exports to the U.S. now face the highest tariff rate in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“It is very clear that while we’ve been negotiating on a trade track, the issues with the Trump administration are deeper than that,” Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen told Reuters in an interview.
“These cover things (like) … expropriation without compensation. It deals with some of the labour laws in the country and also the racial legislation,” Steenhuisen said.
He added that South Africa’s membership of the BRICS bloc centred around Brazil, Russia, India and China – and which aims to challenge U.S. hegenomy – was also an issue for the Trump administration.
Steenhuisen serves as agriculture minister in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet. Agriculture is one of the sectors worst hit by the tariffs.
