{"id":847785,"date":"2026-01-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=847785"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:57:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T09:57:05","slug":"another-tariff-shock-coming-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/847785\/another-tariff-shock-coming-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"US sends another tariff threat to South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States has issued a new tariff threat to countries that do business with Iran, which could have serious consequences for South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US President Donald Trump announced<\/a><\/strong> on Monday (12 January) that any country doing business with Iran will be subject to a 25% tariff rate on all transactions with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This Order is final and conclusive,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While South Africa\u2019s direct trade with Iran is relatively small, the broader implications of this move are severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s trade relationship with Iran is limited, largely consisting of modest agricultural exports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa and Iran trade a range of goods. South Africa exports items such as medical instruments, rubber tyres, and coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In return, it imports tropical fruits, carpets, and oil and petroleum products from Iran.  Additionally, recent trends indicate an increase in South African imports from Iran, while exports to Iran are declining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, South Africa’s military ties with Iran were recently highlighted in Simon’s Town, Cape Town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran sent two vessels to the Simon’s Town naval base over the last week to participate in military drills with South Africa, China and Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While News24<\/a> reported that Iran is not taking part in any war games and will instead hold observer status after diplomatic negotiations, the move highlights the relationship between the two nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision to ask Iran not to take part is reportedly linked to South Africa’s trade goals with the USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, the country exports billions of rand worth of vehicles, automotive components, and minerals to the United States each year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This imbalance makes the potential impact of the tariff particularly damaging for South Africa, despite its minimal economic ties with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest trade benefits for South Africa with the US is its participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AGOA provides participating countries, including South Africa, with trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry into the United States for certain goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 22% of South African exports to the United States benefit from AGOA, which amounts to billions in benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade union Solidarity noted last year that trade with the United States provides jobs to 426,000 South Africans. 93,000 South Africans rely on AGOA for their job security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AGOA contributes significantly to the South African economy and strengthens relations between South Africa and the United States of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a fair trade<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
US President Donald Trump<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Apart from the AGOA agreement, the latest data shows that South Africa exported goods worth R157 billion to the United States. The biggest exports were precious metals and vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa imported goods<\/a> worth R120 billion over the last year, including machinery, mineral products, vehicles, and aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means South Africa has a trade surplus of R36 billion with the United States, which is extremely valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade with countries such as Russia, Iran, and Palestine, with which South Africa has aligned itself, is much smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, South Africa exported goods worth R5.4 billion to Russia, R359 million to Iran, and R155,000 to Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It imported products worth R10 billion from Russia, R68 million from Iran, and R54,000 from Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s order, issued overnight, places key South African industries, such as its auto and mining sectors, squarely in the firing line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If South Africa does not immediately sever its trade links with Iran\u2014a move widely seen as unlikely\u2014its exports to the US could face a punitive tax at American ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a tariff would significantly undermine the competitiveness of South African goods in one of the country\u2019s most important export markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stakes are high because South Africa is an open economy. More than half of all economic activity\u2014and by extension, employment\u2014is directly linked to international trade, whether through exports or imports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Any disruption to access to key markets, such as the United States, therefore, carries far-reaching consequences, not just for specific sectors, but for the broader economy as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States has issued a new tariff threat to countries that do business with Iran, which could have serious consequences for South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":846645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[853,24494,21648],"class_list":["post-847785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-south-africa","tag-truth-social","tag-us-president-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847785"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847800,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847785\/revisions\/847800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}