US President Donald Trump last week announced that imports from South Africa will be subjected to 30 duties - the highest in sub-Saharan Africa - among a slew of levies that will be imposed from 7 August as part of his efforts to reshape America's relationships with its trading partners. The move will affect about 30 000 jobs in South Africa, Simphiwe Hamilton, the trade department's director-general, told reporters at a briefing in Johannesburg on Monday.
The department last week said it would set up a support desk to advise companies affected by the tariffs and indicated they would be assisted financially, but didn't specify how much money would be made available or how it would be disbursed. Also on the cards are changes to competition rules, including a block exemption that will allow exporters to collaborate.
"We are going to cabinet on Wednesday with a set of more detailed proposals that we are finalising, that will elaborate on the structure of the support package," trade, industry competition minister Parks Tau told the briefing.
In his weekly newsletter ealier Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa plans to scale up its trade missions into new markets in Africa and beyond, along with the National Exporter Development Programme, which aims to grow the pool of export-ready companies.