The ANC is discussing an investment and export-diversification plan that aims to lift South African exports to R3-trillion at its mid-term national general council as the government seeks to shore up the economy in response to recent punitive tariffs imposed by the US.
The investment plan is central to the ANC’s move to insulate the country’s economy from the fallout of US-imposed tariffs, particularly on steel, vehicle components and other industrial goods.
Under the new framework, state-backed development finance institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC) will be repositioned as proactive equity partners — mobilising capital for high-growth projects in mining, manufacturing, agri-processing and green industrialisation.
On the sidelines of the ANC’s national general council, trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau said the government is working on a finance package to support exporters.
In August, Washington imposed a 30% “reciprocal tariff” on a wide range of South African exports including steel, aluminium, vehicles and agricultural products. The tariffs affect more than one-third of South Africa’s exports to the US.
Trade negotiations are still ongoing despite the geopolitical tensions and a US boycott of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg.
“Our teams are continuing to meet on the matter but several other matters are clouding the discussions,” Tau said.
Zuko Godlimpi, head of the ANC’s economic transformation committee, presented the document to committee members on Wednesday.
“The global order has shifted from ‘rules-based multilateralism’ to strategic protectionism. The US has revived Section 232 tariffs, including 25–30% duties on vehicles, parts and citrus, with an additional 10% threat on Brics exports. This directly threatens jobs in autos, metals and agriculture — sectors central to our reindustrialisation strategy,” the report reads.
Simultaneously, Pretoria is pursuing a broader export-diversification strategy, expanding trade outreach beyond traditional Western markets. Anchored by the continental African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the policy seeks to foster pan-African value chains in sectors such as vehicles, metals, agriculture and processed goods.
The plan also includes strengthening ties with emerging partners among Brics+, the Gulf, Latin America, China and the EU.
“We advance multilateralism and [are] against unilateralism…. In as far as the aggression we are facing from the Trump administration, we will mobilise and defend our sovereignty,” secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told reporters.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that US trade representative Jamieson Greer is considering excluding SA from Agoa.
“When it comes to trade, they have a lot of barriers, not just tariff but non-tariff barriers, and so on. We’ve made clear to the South Africans that if they ever want to have a better tariff situation with us they need to take care of these tariffs and non-tariff barriers,” Greer told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
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