US Imposes 30% Tariffs on South Africa, AfriForum CEO Says ANC to Blame for Donald Trump’s Actions
- AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the African National Congress must be held accountable for a tariff increase
- US President Donald Trump imposed a 10 % tariff on many countries, but a 30% tariff has been imposed on South Africa
- During his tariff hike announcement, Trump once again claimed that terrible things were happening in the country
Source: Getty Images
Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent ten years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism
GAUTENG – AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel has once again hit out at the African National Congress (ANC).
Kriel, who has been very vocal about the party’s leadership of the country, stated that the ANC should be held accountable for a recent tariff hike imposed on the country.
The United States President announced a new set of tariffs on Wednesday, 2 April 2025, which affect all countries that the US gets imports from. Some countries have been harder hit than others.
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South Africa hit with a 30% tariff
Trump announced a global 10% tariff on all imports, which he said was to address trading imbalances and to help protect American jobs and manufacturing.
While the 10% tariff was imposed on many countries, the US government imposed what it called specific reciprocal tariffs on approximately 60 of the "worst offenders".
Officials from Trump's administration stated that these “worst offenders” either charge higher tariffs on US goods or impose "non-tariff" barriers to US trade. Another reason why some have been hit with higher tariffs is because the Trump administration believes they acted in ways that undermine American economic goals.
South Africa is one of those offenders. The country has been hit with a 30% tariff, and this will come into effect on 9 April.
Source: Getty Images
Kriel says ANC to blame for tariff hike
Taking to X, the AfriForum CEO said that the ANC-led government needed to be held responsible for the higher tariffs.
“The ANC leaders and the ANC-led government must be held directly responsible for the fact that Donald Trump has punished South Africa by imposing significantly higher import tariffs on the country than on most other nations,” Kriel said.
He added that the country was now suffering because of the party’s reckless policies and provocation of the US.
You can view Kriel’s post below.
Trump claims bad things are happening in SA
During his address on 2 April in which he unveiled the new tariffs, the US President explained the decision to hit South Africa with a higher tariff.
“South Africa, oh, they’ve got some bad things going on. We’ve been paying them billions of dollars, so we cut the funding because a lot of bad things are happening in South Africa,” he claimed.
The claims are part of the US President’s ongoing narrative that the South African government was confiscating land from farmers and treating some of the citizens very poorly.
What you need to know about claims made against South Africa
- Donald Trump claims that terrible things are happening in South Africa
- The FW De Klerk Foundation has rubbished Donald Trump's claims about racial discrimination
- Donald Trump deletes tweet claiming that South Africa was a dangerous place
- The US State Department has explained why they are unhappy with South Africa at the moment
- The US President has offered citizenship to farmers and their families if they don’t feel safe in South Africa
US government planning to set up refugee centres
Briefly News reported that the US government is reportedly planning to rent out office space in Pretoria.
The plan, which falls under an initiative called Mission South Africa, seeks to set up refugee centres for Afrikaners.
South Africans slammed Trump and accused him of causing further division in the country and even undermining Afrikaners.
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Source: Briefly News
