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South Africa has requested more time to negotiate a trade deal with the US before Washington’s tariff reprieve expires next week.
The Trump administration imposed a 31% levy on imports from South Africa in April as part of “reciprocal” tariffs placed on countries around the world, duties that were suspended until July 9.
The South African trade ministry said its officials met last week with a top US trade representative, who told them that Washington — South Africa’s second-largest trading partner after China — was developing a new template to engage with African countries. “African countries, including South Africa, have advocated for the extension of the 90-day deadline to enable countries to prepare their proposed deals in accordance with the new template,” Pretoria said in a statement, adding that it “reiterated this position” during the meeting.
In an interview, Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala told Semafor that South Africa “does have cards to play” in negotiations with the US, referring to rare earths and metals like platinum, of which South Africa is a leading producer.
