The South African Government said it was studying the implications of the US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium articles
Trump, whose main campaign plank was to boost manufacturing jobs in the US, announced that the US would impose a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium articles and 25 per cent on steel articles.
The announcement spooked financial markets around the globe last week, which recovered after Trump appeared to soften his stance on the issue.
“The Department of Trade and Industry is fully engaged with the matter and continues to have discussions with the US on this issue. A formal submission will also be made to the US as is provided for in the proclamations,” the Department of Trade and Industry said.
South Africa’s steel exports to the US amounted to about US$950mn in 2017 or 1.4 per cent of the US’s global imports, far lesser than other trading partners such as Canada, Brazil.
South Africa’s aluminium exports were US$375mn in 2017, accounting for 1.6 per cent of US imports.
