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South Africa is not desperate to keep the 4% US export market, which accounts for $537 million (9.8 billion) of the total agricultural exports. The country will be looking to expand and diversify its export market following the punitive 30% tariff by the United States of America that came into effect on 7 August 2025.
During the media briefing on Tuesday, 12 August 2025, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) Mr Parks and the Minister for Agriculture Mr John Steenhuisen issued a joint statement where they said, Cabinet has approved that South Africa submits a revised offer as a basis for negotiations with the US.
Though the country is looking into keeping the US as its trade partner, South Africa has a number of alternatives at its disposal, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), BRICS and the EU amongst others.
Minister Parks Tau said the recent imposition of a 30% unilateral tariff by the United States on South Africa’s exports is a significant policy shift that necessitates a clear and decisive response. According to the Minister, South Africa has accelerated its diversification efforts of export markets and enhanced competitiveness to mitigate the economic impact of losing preferential trade access.
He said the diversification is a strategic imperative to ensure better resilience of the country’s economy to economic shocks.
“This is not a plan B; it is a plan A for long term resilience and competitiveness,” he said.
“We are committed to strengthening our relationships, particularly under the AfCFTA, to build regional resilience. We will also continue the work we have started with our European partners towards enhancing our trade and investment relations in a manner that unlocks sustainable growth and development and entrenches South Africa in new supply-chains.
We are looking at Asia, including Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, the Middle East and India. We are pursuing these markets because we see growing demand, existing negotiations and a positive reception to South African products. This is not just about trade numbers; it is directly linked to job protection. Diversification is about protecting rural livelihoods and sustainable agricultural growth for our people,” said Tau.
“To achieve this, Government is deploying dedicated infrastructure for market expansion, including trade and agricultural attachés, increased export certification capacity and a concerted effort to align our biosecurity standards with the requirements of these new markets.
A high-level negotiation team, including both the DTIC and the Department of Agriculture has been identified and is ready to engage the US towards a mutually beneficial agreement.
Our goal is to demonstrate that South African exports do not pose a threat to US industries and that our trade relationship is, in fact, complementary,” he continued.
Tau pointed out that while the US is South Africa’s 3rd largest trading partner after the EU and China, South Africa is the 43rd export destination for the United States and accounts for 0.25% of total US imports and is therefore not a threat to US production. Furthermore, the US market accounts for about 4% of South Africa’s total agriculture exports, or R9.8 billion ($537m) of the country’s total agricultural exports, an increase of 104% from 2018.
“Government is going to do everything possible to keep the American market open for our goods. We will at the same time accelerate our efforts to diversify markets and build on the efforts we have put in place to ensure predictability in trade and leverage all our existing partnerships to secure markets for our products,” said Minister Parks Tau.
