US-South Africa trade deal imminent, says trade minister Parks Tau

South Africa’s trade minister, Parks Tau, said the US and South Africa are close to finalizing a trade deal that is “reciprocally beneficial.”

According to reporting by The South African, the minister didn’t provide further details but alluded to the fact that “substantial progress had been made” between the countries.

Minister Tau recently met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Lee Greer and said the conversations have been tough, especially around issues concerning Black empowerment laws—which aim to bridge the economic gaps left as a result of the country’s apartheid—which he said the government would not abandon. 

Another controversial issue is what Tau referred to as the “so-called genocide of Afrikaners,” a debunked accusation made by the Trump administration claiming the local government is persecuting white South Africans. 

However, the official said they continue to engage with the US and build trust.

This could mean a happy end to the negotiations that started three months ago after President Donald Trump imposed 30 percent tariffs on South African exports to the US.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said the country’s goal is to safeguard continued access to the US market, its second-largest trade partner.

“We are on the ground, and we are working the ground in the United States as we speak,” the SA President said in a press release. “Our people, who are in the United States, are now fully fired up with this type of approach, and the minister of trade and industry and international relations will be joining them, and they will be advancing those discussions.”

US trade officials have not yet commented on the status of the negotiations.

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