US may not like our fleas

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies’s request that SA be excluded from US duties on steel and aluminium may need to incorporate a quid pro quo. After all, this is US President Donald Trump’s style of doing business.

I therefore disagree with Southern African Institute of Steel Construction CEO Paolo Trinchero when he says “SA’s submissions will involve a substantial amount of time and money, with no guarantee of success.”

First, an understanding of the politics involved is essential. Our friends Iran, Cuba and North Korea are not the friends of America. Second, the US under Trump has shown a proclivity for closer relations with Israel, when our government intends downgrading its embassy in Israel as a direct result of Trump’s formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Lastly, expropriation of land and farms without compensation is viewed by many western countries as legalised theft.

In preference to the government reacting as if it is still a revolutionary movement, it would be wise to contemplate Benjamin Franklin’s quote in Poor Richard’s Almanack: “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” Unless the ANC and government conform to western ideas and ethics, Davies’s approach to the US may prove futile. Nathan Cheiman Northcliff