South Africa seeks meeting with US on auto tariffs
South Africa will seek a meeting with US authorities on auto tariffs, Trade Minister Parks Tau said on Tuesday, noting the levies are a concern as the country has preferential trade status with the United States.
South Africa, whose exports of vehicles and parts into the United States is estimated at over $2-billion, could take a severe hit from a planned tariff of 25% on automobile imports unveiled last week by US President Donald Trump.
Tau said in a statement that the US Section 232 tariffs are expected to apply to imports of cars and car parts from countries, including South Africa, that benefit from the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
AGOA provides duty-free access to the US market for most agricultural and manufactured products, such as cars and parts exported by eligible African countries.
"Automobile exports from South Africa accounted for 64% of South Africa's exports under AGOA in 2024, and are therefore a significant component of products currently benefiting under the preferential programme," Tau said.
While South Africa's car exports to the United States go duty-free under AGOA, US imports into South Africa also enjoy rebates under the country's Automotive Production Development Programme.
South Africa's exports of automobiles accounts for only 0.99% of US total vehicle imports and 0.27% of auto parts "and thus do not constitute a threat to US industry", Tau added.
"South Africa will seek a meeting with the United States authorities to discuss these developments, given the potential negative effect on the South African economy," Tau said.
The representative body of South Africa's automotive industry, naamsa | The Automotive Business Council has said that it was actively assessing the potential impact of these tariffs and that it was engaging with its members and other key stakeholders.
Among the car brands that South Africa exports to the US are Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
FlameBlock is a proudly South African company that engineers, manufactures and supplies fire intumescent and retardant products to the fire...
VISIT SHOWROOM
For over 60 years, VEGA has provided industry-leading products for the measurement of level, density, weight and pressure. As the inventor of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
