Brics to fight tariff threats
China and South Africa urged fellow Brics governments yesterday to fight protectionism and promote multilateral global trade in the face of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump that threaten global trade.
Trump’s warnings have given Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa fresh impetus to enhance trade co-operation, and officials at a three-day summit that kicked off in Johannesburg yesterday found a collective voice championing global trade.
The meeting of presidents from the trade bloc is the first since Trump’s administration launched a push to rebalance trade multilateralism that Trump has deemed unfair, relationships which the United States once championed.
“It is our sincere obligation to showcase our commitment towards the multilateral trading system, to safeguard the existence of the WTO [World Trade Organisation] and also show our clear and strong position against any unilateral action and protectionism,” Zhang Shaogang, director general in the ministry of commerce of China, told the summit.
“Trade and investment co-operation is the propeller for overarching Brics co-operation.
“We need to make our cooperation more pragmatic and institutionalised.”
Trade & industry minister Rob Davies said Africa’s most industrialised economy was being hurt in collateral damage.
“All of us in Brics agree that this moment in the global economy requires us to strengthen our partnership,” Davies said.
“This moment is characterised by unilateralism, and by a move towards discriminatory policies on tariffs above WTO boundaries applied to some and not to others.”
Last week Trump said he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500bn (R6.5-trillion) of imported goods from rival economic superpower China.
But even South Africa, a tiny exporter of steel, aluminium and automobiles to the United States, faces barriers.
The US did not grant South Africa an exemption from tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium, proclaimed by Trump in March.
Davies said 7 000 South Africans were in jobs affected by the metals tariffs and that an effort to secure an exemption from the US government had failed.
He said South Africa was also aware of a threat to impose tariffs on auto imports into the United States.
He said South African poultry import concessions from which US suppliers benefited were linked to the preferential terms South Africa currently receives for auto imports into the United States. –
All of us in Brics agree that this moment in the global economy requires us to strengthen our partnership