SA coalition party says US trade deal may hinge on race policies
The government has tried for months to negotiate a trade deal with Washington but failed to an reach agreement before Trump's deadline. Its exports to the US face the highest tariff rate in Sub-Saharan Africa.
'It is very clear that while we've been negotiating on a trade track, the issues with the Trump administration are deeper than that,' DA leader John Steenhuisen told Reuters in an interview.
'These cover things (like) expropriation without compensation. It deals with some labour laws in the country and also the racial legislation,' Steenhuisen said.
He said SA's membership of the Brics bloc centred on Brazil, Russia, India and China, and which aims to challenge US hegemony, was also an issue for the Trump administration. The pro-business DA party has long opposed the BBBEE Act and other laws which aim to address the racial inequality that has persisted since the end of apartheid. It said they should be replaced with nonracial measures to boost the economy and create jobs, such as removing red tape and simplifying business licensing.
However, Steenhuisen also said he thought it was 'odd' that the Trump administration was linking such issues to trade.
'Just as we would not seek to interfere in the domestic politics of the US, we would expect that issues that relate to our own sovereignty are also respected,' he said.
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