South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that trade is increasingly being used as a tool of economic coercion, urging the United States to roll back tariffs recently imposed on South African imports.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Ramaphosa said Pretoria is in talks with a U.S. trade representative to address the issue. “We want tariffs that President Trump is seeking to levy on us, and has already started, to be reduced,” he said.
The president’s remarks follow his address to the United Nations General Assembly, where he warned that “geopolitical shocks and unprecedented trade policy volatility are destabilizing the global economy and jeopardizing a critical source of development finance.
In fact, trade is now being used as a weapon against a number of countries in the world.”
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy, has been a key beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a U.S. preferential trade deal granting duty- and quota-free access to thousands of African products.
However, the treaty’s future remains uncertain, with no congressional vote last year and renewed doubts following President Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Ramaphosa stressed the importance of AGOA’s continuation, calling it vital for African development and U.S.-Africa trade relations. He warned that rising protectionism could hurt both economies and undermine growth prospects.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
