{"id":99517,"date":"2025-08-01T15:16:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=99517"},"modified":"2025-08-01T15:32:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:32:49","slug":"trumps-tariff-threat-puts-r60-billion-south-african-investment-gamble-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/trumps-tariff-threat-puts-r60-billion-south-african-investment-gamble-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Tariff Threat Puts R60 Billion South African Investment Gamble at Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em>
\n01 August 2025 | 11:15 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Trade tensions mount: Former U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa face off amid looming tariff threats that could derail R60 billion in investment. Photo credits: MSN<\/p><\/div>\n

As the clock ticks towards a critical Friday deadline, South Africa\u2019s R60 billion private investment pledge stands on shaky ground, facing the weight of a potential 30% tariff from the United States. Trade expert Donald McKay warns the likelihood of this tariff becoming reality is \u201cfairly good,\u201d sparking concern across key export sectors.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Islam<\/em><\/a>, McKay unpacked the political nature of U.S. trade policy under Donald Trump, explaining, \u201cTrump uses tariffs and access to the U.S. market as a hammer. This is extremely unusual and quite counterproductive.\u201d He notes that South Africa\u2019s position on geopolitical issues such as Gaza and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) may be aggravating the situation.<\/p>\n

India has already been penalized for arms and oil purchases from Russia, while Brazil faces a staggering 50% tariff for pursuing legal action against a former president. \u201cTrump tends to intervene in the domestic politics of most countries,\u201d McKay added, implying South Africa\u2019s situation is not unique but is politically charged.<\/p>\n

The looming tariffs could devastate South African exporters, especially those in agriculture. \u201cThe biggest impact is going to be on fresh fruits, citrus, table grapes, South African wine\u2026 where it\u2019s very difficult to absorb labor,\u201d McKay cautioned. Automotives are already burdened, with Mercedes-Benz halting production in East London due to a 25% import duty.<\/p>\n

Despite South Africa dangling a significant investment carrot to influence Washington\u2019s stance, McKay remains unconvinced. \u201cWhether it sways [Trump], I don\u2019t know\u2026 I hope it moves things, but I\u2019m not optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The broader concern remains South Africa\u2019s dependency on U.S. trade routes. While diversification efforts are underway, McKay noted that \u201cit\u2019s a lot more difficult in reality than it is on paper.\u201d The U.S. may account for 25% of global GDP, but it only represents 17% of world trade, leaving ample room and urgency for alternatives.<\/p>\n

As the Friday deadline looms, many are left wondering whether South Africa\u2019s R60 billion gamble will pay off or whether Trump’s tariff roulette will deal a heavy blow to an already struggling economy.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Shuaib Lasanya and Trade Expert Donald McKay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 01 August 2025 | 11:15 CAT As the clock ticks towards a critical Friday deadline, South Africa\u2019s R60 billion private investment pledge stands on shaky ground, facing the weight of a potential 30% tariff from the United States. Trade expert Donald McKay warns the likelihood of this tariff becoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":99518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Trump-Tarrifs.jpg?fit=768%2C432&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pT7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 12:01:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}