JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has dispatched senior officials to the United States to advance trade negotiations after months of stalled efforts with the Trump administration, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday.
The move follows Washington’s imposition of a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa last month, a blow to Africa’s most industrialized economy. Ramaphosa told parliament that representatives from the Presidency and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition are now in the U.S., preparing for formal discussions scheduled within days.
South African envoys are expected to meet Trump’s officials, lawmakers, and industry leaders in New York and Washington. While U.S. trade officials have yet to confirm the talks, Pretoria has emphasized that it submitted a revised deal proposal weeks ago, urging Washington to consider it before tariffs were enforced.
Highlighting South Africa’s bargaining position, Ramaphosa stressed the importance of critical minerals in trade discussions. “Even as we may well want to export the critical minerals, we want them to leave the shores of South Africa as finished products,” he said, signaling the country’s push to expand beneficiation rather than remain a raw-material exporter.
The latest standoff adds further strain to a relationship already bruised this year. Tensions escalated after Trump’s controversial allegations of persecution against South Africa’s white minority, leading to the introduction of a U.S. refugee program for white South Africans.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen recently noted that easing tariffs could require South Africa to respond to some of Washington’s criticisms, including those directed at affirmative action policies designed to redress apartheid-era inequalities.