President Trump's recent announcement of a 30% tariff on South Africa has raised eyebrows, especially given his misleading claims about the country's trade practices.
Image: Erin Schaff - Pool/Getty Images/AFP
When President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on more than 100 countries last week, South Africa was placed in the category labelled “worst offenders” and hit with a 30% tariff on exports to the United States.
The tariffs on South Africa and the rest of the world are set to take effect on Wednesday, 9 April.
Trump claimed South Africa has been “ripping off” US taxpayers and insisted Pretoria imposes 60% tariffs on American goods.
However, this claim is false.
Just days before announcing the tariffs, Trump’s own administration released its 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, which contradicts his assertion.
The report found that “South Africa’s average Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) applied tariff rate is just 7.6% — with 7.4% for non-agricultural products and 8.5% for agricultural products”. It further noted that tariffs of 60% or more are applied only to niche agricultural products bound under WTO rules — such as sugar or dairy — and are rarely levied on actual US exports to South Africa.
Moreover, South Africa’s tariff structure is aligned with WTO norms. A total of 93.8% of its tariff lines are bound, providing predictability and transparency.
The new tariff rates were calculated using what Trump calls a “reciprocal trade formula”. In essence: if a country exports more to the US than it imports from it, the surplus is treated as a form of exploitation — or, in Trump’s words, “pillaging”.
Using this formula, the Trump administration took the trade deficit, divided it by the value of US imports from each country, and used that figure to justify a reciprocal tariff.
In South Africa’s case, a trade surplus — largely in cars, platinum, and citrus — became the basis for Trump’s 60% claim.
Economists worldwide have criticised the methodology, calling it a misrepresentation of trade imbalances and labelling it an “arithmetic delusion”. They argue it contradicts the data produced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
By equating a trade imbalance to a tariff — and grossly inflating the number — Trump may have misled the American public and potentially violated the spirit of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Under Agoa, South Africa and other African nations have benefitted from preferential access to the US market, while the US has pursued strategic partnerships, development, and regional stability. Analysts warn Trump’s actions could unravel years of diplomatic progress.
South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, responded by saying: “We now have to look amongst ourselves... how we’re going to respond to these issues.”
Trump’s latest tariff initiative — his most sweeping to date — came into force on Saturday, applying a baseline 10% duty on goods from countries including Australia, Britain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
A second wave of tariffs, ranging from 11% to 50%, is scheduled to take effect on 9 April.
The European Union will face a 20% duty, while Chinese goods will be subjected to a new 84% levy — raising total tariffs on China to a staggering 104%.
These measures have already triggered retaliatory threats, heightened market volatility, and prompted warnings from economists and trade experts of potentially lasting damage to the global economy
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