KEY POINTS
- South Africa’s revised trade deal seeks to lower US tariffs.
- The proposal addresses sanitary and market access concerns.
- Political policies may still affect tariff relief.
South Africa will present a revised trade deal offer to Washington on Tuesday in a bid to ease the 30 per cent tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on exports last week. The move follows months of failed negotiations and aims to address key American concerns flagged in the 2025 National Trade Estimates Report.
Trade Minister Parks Tau said the cabinet had approved the new proposal, describing it as a substantive response to the issues raised by US officials. “The new offer substantively responds to the issues the US has raised in the 2025 National Trade Estimates Report,” Tau told reporters. He added that South Africa had tackled sanitary and phytosanitary concerns, paving the way for poultry and pork shipments from the US to arrive within two weeks.
South Africa’s revised trade deal targets tariff relief
The South Africa revised trade deal comes after Washington dismissed Pretoria’s earlier proposal as insufficiently ambitious. US negotiators had pressed for greater market access for American goods, particularly in agriculture. Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, who also serves as leader of the second-largest party in South Africa’s coalition government, said the updated proposal was “broad, generous and open”—meeting the ambition criteria demanded by Trump’s trade team.
“If one were to look at the situation through the trade and tariff perspective, I think this offer represents something that would be good for the United States and also good for South Africa,” Steenhuisen said.
Political tensions could impact the revised trade deal
Despite the expanded offer, political headwinds could complicate progress. Steenhuisen warned that the 30 percent tariff might remain unless South Africa addresses certain domestic race-based economic policies, including affirmative action, which Trump has criticised.
The dispute comes as South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, seeks to protect key export markets while balancing its internal economic transformation agenda. Analysts say the revised deal could help ease trade tensions, but they caution that political disagreements may prolong negotiations.
