As of August 1, the United States will impose a 30% tariff on all South African goods entering that country.

This follows US President Donald Trump’s official letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, confirming that all products exported to the US will be subject to a 30% reciprocal tariff.

This is because the 90-day tariff deadline, which Trump put in place after his initial announcement on the global tariffs, expires on Wednesday.

Presidency spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the interpretation of the supposed trade imbalance between the two nations is under consideration between the South African and American negotiating teams.

“Accordingly, South Africa maintains that the 30% reciprocal tariff is not an accurate representation of available trade data,” said Magwenya.

Meanwhile, just hours before that letter was sent, Ramaphosa expressed his disappointment that US President Donald Trump is seeking “vengeance against those doing good”. This was his reaction to Trump’s warning that countries will be hit with an extra 10% tariff if they support the policies of BRICS that go against US interests.

Ramaphosa, while in Brazil for the BRICS Summit on Monday, said he was disappointed by this.

“It is really disappointing that when there is such a very positive collective manifestation, such as BRICS, there should be others who see it in a negative light and want to punish those who participate in this. It cannot be that might should now be right,” said Ramaphosa.

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