South African Trade Minister Parks Tau said a trade deal with the US was very close, without providing details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are on the verge of negotiating an agreement around tariffs, and how they can be reciprocally beneficial,\u201d he told an event at a resort in the Drakensberg mountains on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Donald Trump slapped 30% levies on South African exports into the US in August, and Pretoria has been trying to get them lowered ever since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tariffs threaten thousands of South African jobs in automobile manufacturing and citrus farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tau, who met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, DC, last month, said there had been significant progress in the talks. USTR officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has falsely claimed that South Africa\u2019s government is subjecting White Afrikaans farmers to genocide and has offered members of that community refugee status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US leader has also criticised South Africa\u2019s Black economic empowerment laws aimed at redressing the impact of apartheid-era discrimination.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tau said that the two parties were dealing with \u201cfive hot-button issues\u201d, including the Black empowerment laws, which he said the government would not abandon, and the \u201cso-called genocide of Afrikaners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough discussions, sometimes uncomfortable, and we continue to engage with them and build trust,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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