Tau in Washington dogfight as US tariff war threatens to cripple SA economy
Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau has confirmed that negotiations with the United States over 30% tariffs on local exports have entered a critical new phase
Image: Armand Hough /Independent Newspapers
Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau has confirmed that negotiations with the United States over 30% tariffs on local exports have entered a critical new phase.
Tau and his team are in the US to discuss a possible trade deal that could reduce the tariffs, which experts and economists have warned will have a devastating effect on key sectors of the economy, including automotive, agriculture, and manufacturing.
In an interview with the public broadcaster, the SABC, Tau said the negotiations have now moved to a more detailed stage, with both countries exchanging official documents to guide the discussions.
“Our teams have been engaging, at least at the level of the text, the actual document. There were discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday, quite intense discussions between the teams," Tau said.
Tau added that the US will provide a revised text early next week based on recent discussions, which will help move the negotiations forward.
"The US will give us a revised text on the basis of the comments and questions over the past week, and we anticipate that will be given to us early in the next week".
"It would give us about two weeks to consider consulting stakeholders, sister departments, go to cabinet, get a mandate and be able to respond and from there would be able to then get into the details of the negotiations.”
The minister also revealed that concerns raised by the US regarding Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policies were discussed early on, but are not currently a major obstacle in the talks.
"It was raised in the initial parts of the discussions, but in the past week, it's not an issue that was put on the table, but it doesn't mean that it's not going to come up.
"We are not suggesting that it wouldn't, but I'm encouraged that we are now in discussions, we're now at a point where we're looking at documents, and we would be able to present our side of the story".
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