President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied the claim by his US counterpart that trade between the two countries is skewed in favour of South Africa.
Trump made the claim in a letter to Ramaphosa in which he announces the imposition of a 30 percent trade tariff against South Africa.
In the response, posted on his official X account, Ramaphosa cautiously dismissed Trump’s assertion also indicating that Washington’s interpretation of trade between the two countries was itself incorrect and was part of ongoing discussions.
“This 30% tariff is based on a particular interpretation of the balance of trade between South Africa and the United States. This contested interpretation forms part of the issues under consideration by the negotiating teams from South Africa and the United States. Accordingly, South Africa maintains that the 30% reciprocal tariff is not an accurate representation of available trade data,” said Ramaphosa.
The President said to the contrary, the USA pays next to nothing to access the South African market estimating American tariff-free goods consumed in South Africa to be well over 70 percent.
” In our interpretation of the available trade data, the average tariff imported goods entering South Africa stands at 7.6%. Importantly, 56% of goods enter South Africa at 0% most favoured nation tariff, with 77% of US goods entering the South African market under the 0% duty,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa’s response has maintained his calmness in dealing with the unpredictable Trump, who has, in just few months, fell for a clear misinformation campaign pursued by his one time ally and now opponent Elon Musk, to threatening to deport the South African-born tech tycoon.
Instead of going toe-to-toe with Trump, Ramaphosa has appealed to his team in government to do follow ups with their American counterparts to among others ensure finality on some of the outstanding issues that Trump appears to have made conclusions on.
“South Africa has continued to engage the United States, most recently at a meeting held on the side-lines of the US-Africa Summit on 23 June 2025 in Luanda. It was at this meeting where South Africa learned of a template with which the US wishes to engage sub-Saharan Africa on matters of trade. The South African negotiating team still awaits this template, however, President Ramaphosa has instructed the team urgently engage with the US on the basis of the Framework Deal that South Africa submitted to the US on 20 May 2025. This Framework deal addresses the issues initially raised by the US, including South Africa’s supposed trade surplus, unfair trade practices and lack of reciprocity from the US,” said Ramaphosa.
Despite his measured approach, Ramaphosa does boldly urge the government he leads to explore other markets so as to not be held at ransom by the likes of Trump.
“The President urges government trade negotiations teams and South African companies to accelerate their diversification efforts in order to promote better resilience in both global supply chains and the South African economy,” he said of the need to diversify.