South Africa is quickly expanding its global trade partners as a solution to the United States of America’s 30% tariff on its exports, said Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen made the statement as the US tariff increase on South Africa is expected to come into effect on August 1.
“The real solution lies not just in playing defence, but in going on the offensive. This is why we are doubling down on market access expansion,” said Steenhuisen, who is the leader of the DA in the Government of National Unity.
The tariff deadline will come as the country waits for the outcome of the proposed US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, which seeks to impose sanctions against some ANC leaders accused of, among others, supporting China, Russia, and Iran, and mismanaging state resources.
Delivering a keynote address at the RSA Group Stakeholder Dinner in Muldersdrift outside Johannesburg on Thursday, Steenhuisen said his department was reaching out to other countries looking for markets to sell the country’s agricultural products.
He called on the country not to waste time by being overly reliant, but to be productive.
He said the country was already strengthening its trade alliances with the likes of Chile, Peru, and New Zealand “to jointly lobby for fair and stable trade treatment of fresh produce” through the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters.
“Over the past six months alone, we have finalised new phytosanitary protocols for the export of avocados to China; table grapes to Vietnam and the Philippines; and maize to India,” he said.
Steenhuisen said there were trade negotiations with Indonesia, Thailand, and Bangladesh.
“Our goal is simple — to ensure that no South African fruit producer is ever left dependent on the goodwill of a single trading partner.”
He said the country was also strengthening its plant health systems, expanding traceability capabilities, and digitising its export certification platforms to align with the European Union’s Green Deal and Asia’s growing demand for sustainability-linked imports as part of “investments that are not just defensive; they are the launchpad for new growth”.
He said the country’s agriculture has always been one of ingenuity, grit, and partnership.
“We have overcome political transitions, trade embargoes, droughts, pandemics, and port crises. We will overcome these current headwinds (tariff increase) too,” he said.
Steenhuisen said that to avert the effects of new tariffs more quickly and effectively, the country must be united and pull together.
“My department is open for business, open for reform, and open for ideas,” he said.
Steenhuisen said the tariffs will damage the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is set to expire in September and is already under threat of not being renewed due to strained relations between South Africa and the US.
“Let me be clear: South African agriculture did not deserve this treatment. We do not dump, we do not distort, and we do not play geopolitical games with food,” he said.
He said the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) was leading the country’s formal engagement with the United States.
“And we continue to work hand in hand with Minister Tau and his team to ensure that the full impact on the agricultural sector is well understood,” he said.
Soon after taking over the US presidency for the second time, Donald Trump came down heavy on South Africa by signing an Executive Order alleging that the country was mistreating its Afrikaner community by enabling genocide and passing oppressive policies.
He also accused the country of being aggressive towards his country and its allies, “including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements”.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining of United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” read the order.
In reaction, Ramaphosa led a delegation, which comprised Steenhuisen and influential businessman Johann Rupert, to correct misinformation about Afrikaners’ treatment and straighten the relationship with Trump’s administration.
However, the first phase of passing the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, which, according to its author, US Congressman Ronny Jackson, seeks to punish ANC leaders, raised eyebrows.
The act, which is now awaiting tabling at the full House of Representatives, accused the ANC’s government leaders of undermining human rights by having a military and political relationship with the Russian government, which is at war with Ukraine.
It accused the country of having allowed a US-sanctioned Russian cargo ship, the Lady R, to dock and transfer arms at a South African naval base in December 2022.
“The ANC published an article in their newspaper, ANC Today, in October 2024, promoting Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine,” read the proposed act, which also accused ANC leaders of mismanaging Eskom and Transnet, and enabling the cholera outbreaks.
University of South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs’ international affairs expert, Dr Bongiwe Ngcobo, said the US actions were designed to force South Africa to abandon the International Court of Justice case against Israel on the Gaza conflict.
She said South Africa’s BRICS membership was also a concern for the US.
“If BRICS strengthen and grow, then it means they will have a challenger, and it means they will have less control over smaller countries like South Africa and other countries from the Global South,” she said.
