South Africa found itself one of 14 countries slapped with large tariff increases by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday as a punitive measure for lack of progress in negotiations, and now faces a 30% duty.
In addition, South Africa, as one of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, among others), could face an additional 10% for “anti-American” policies.
Trump had suspended the imposition of the tariffs he announced in April until July 9, but began sending letters this week to countries — including close trading partners — that he felt had not compromised.
USA Today reported:
President Donald Trump revealed new tariff rates on 14 countries — and extended until August 1 a pause on higher rates that was due to expire July 9.
In separate July 7 letters to each targeted country, Trump said he will impose 25% tariffs on goods from Malaysia, Tunisia and Kazakhstan, 30% tariff rates on imports from South Africa and 40% tariffs on Laos and Myanmar.
Products from Cambodia and Thailand will receive 36% tariffs, while Serbia and Bangladesh face a rate of 35%. Trump said Indonesian imports would have a 32% tariff and goods from Bosnia and Herzegovina would be tariffed at 30%.
Trump’s message to South Africa was posted on his Truth Social site, along with letters to other leaders.
The South African government, and the South African media, had largely been complimentary about President Cyril Ramaphosa’s contentious White House meeting in May. But they overlooked the fact that Ramaphosa came without any compromises to offer, and left without achieving any agreements.
Trump’s letter did not mention issues other than trade, though he did mention BRICS the day before:
South Africa has tweaked the U.S. on foreign policy issues, recently signing a “book of condolence” at the Iranian embassy after the U.S. bombed that country’s nuclear sites.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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