Image Source: ActionSA
World – AICD Programme Coordinator, Dominic Brown, believes that the new US tariff is part of an imperialist agenda by Washington to reassert its dominance over the global economy.
The US trade representative enacted tariffs ranging between 10 and 12% on imports from 60 countries, with South Africa placed in the higher tier at 12.5%, alongside major economies such as China, Japan and South Korea.
Brown said the tariffs excluded certain goods, including critical minerals, citrus and nuts, which suggested the US remained interested in accessing South Africa’s resources cheaply. He argued this pattern pointed to a broader strategic motive behind Washington’s trade policy.
“When you look at our critical minerals, for example, there are no import tariffs on that. There are also no import tariffs on some of our citrus, our nuts and so on. So that indicates that the US is still interested in getting our other products for cheap as part of their development strategy. And so I think we really have to see this as an imperialist agenda by the US trying to reassert its dominance over the global economy.”
Deindustrialisation Concerns
Brown said the tariffs were also linked to deindustrialisation challenges faced by the US and other countries, including South Africa. He noted that tariffs could serve as a tool to make local products more competitive globally, although this came with risks for South Africa’s already strained labour market.
Brown warned that the knock-on effects for South Africa could be severe, given the scale of unemployment the country already faces.
“There could be job losses which would further increase the crisis of mass unemployment that we have in the country. And again the further de-industrialisation of the South African economy, which is very much one of the main reasons for the unemployment crisis that we are facing.”
Prospects For A Reversal
The tariffs could be reversed, but this would depend heavily on the state of diplomatic ties between Pretoria and Washington. Brown said the relationship between the two governments had deteriorated significantly in recent times.
Brown pointed to specific sources of friction, including rhetoric from the US president and South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel, as factors complicating any renegotiation.
“The challenge is that the relationship between the South African state and the US government has become quite tense over the past period. And I think given the volatility of the US president, his antipathy to what he calls the white genocide in South Africa and the ICJ case that South Africa brought against Israel and the US.”
