Apartheid’s last president, FW De Klerk’s foundation has added its voice in calling for South Africa to stop being overly reliant on America and look elsewhere for trade deals amid concerns over President Donald Trump’s 30% tariffs on exports.

In what could be seen as the country’s population bending together against the economic squeezing tariffs, the foundation echoed DA leader John Steenhuisen in calling for the country to spread its wings wider, looking for alternative markets across the world.  

Steenhuisen, in his capacity as Agriculture minister, said recently that the country is strengthening its trade alliances with the likes of Chile, Peru, and New Zealand “to jointly lobby for fair and stable trade treatment of fresh produce” through the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters.

He also said the state had finalised new phytosanitary protocols for the export of avocados to China, table grapes to Vietnam and the Philippines, and maize to India.

FW de Klerk Foundation’s Ismail Joosub called for the strengthening of trading ties “with our BRICS partners and Africa”. 

The foundation was concerned about the South African Reserve Bank warning that the tariffs could cost the country around 100,000 jobs, “hitting our agriculture and automotive sectors the hardest.”

South Africa is a member of BRICS, which the US sees as a threat to its global economic and political dominance. 

“China’s vast market, for instance, can buy more of our minerals, wine, and fruits. 

“India, Brazil, and others present growing export destinations if we proactively pursue them,” Joosub said in a statement.

He issued the statement on Friday, the same day Trump implemented the tariffs, which he said would be effective on August 7.  

According to, Charles A. Ray, a chairperson of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute’s African Program and former US ambassador to Cambodia and Zimbabwe, US was unhappy with South Africa’s proximity to China and Russia and its membership with BRICS.

He said it “has since become an alternate political forum to the US-led West, seeking to shift the global order more to the advantage of China and to move away from the US dollar’s domination of the global economy”.

According to one of Trump’s Executive Orders, South Africa was undermining the US’s foreign policy and posed threats to the US and its allies’ security and interests.

“Our government is already working with industry to find alternative markets for our goods and support affected sectors with contingency plans. 

“We should build on this by ramping up trade promotion in Asia, the Middle East and across Africa. 

“In short, if one door closes, we must be ready to open many others,” said Joosub.

He said another step to protect and grow the economy was to invest in youth, skilling young people by taking advantage of an initiative that China has established through its Luban Workshops, which are vocational training centres in nearly 20 countries. 

“South Africa should welcome such initiatives and even expand them here at home, [as] at last year’s BRICS summit in Johannesburg, a BRICS Skills Challenge showcased how collaboration in fields like robotics, data science and aerospace can help our youth develop critical skills.

“Millions of talented South African youth remain on the margins, [so] we need to harness their potential through education, training and entrepreneurship support,” he said.

Joosub also called for the country to look at technical exchange programs, scholarships, and joint research with programmes with China, India and others to help the country cultivate much-needed skills in engineering, artisans and the innovation sectors. 

“By equipping young South Africans with world-class skills, we not only reduce unemployment but also make our economy more competitive globally. 

“Our Constitution’s preamble enjoins us to ‘free the potential of each person, ‘ and there is no greater potential waiting to be freed than that of our youth,” he said.

The foundation was concerned that unemployment was already at 32,9% and youth unemployment exceeded 46%. 

“We cannot afford further blows. It’s a stark reminder that nearly half of young South Africans struggle to find work,” he said.

He said the US was punishing South Africa for its domestic policies, including affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment, and the country’s diplomatic stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and a genocide case against Israel, which he said the US views as creating barriers or running counter to its interests. 

“We should be candid: while the American approach is blunt, it has exposed fault lines in our own house. 

“This tariff standoff is, in part, a reaction to our policy choices – and it compels us to reflect on whether those choices are achieving their intended goals,” said Joosub. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa believes his administration will still be able to find a way out of the 30% tariffs before August 7.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za

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