South Africa Says Not Anti-American After Trump's Tariff Threat

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa received by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Room of the White House on May 21, 2025. (Wikimedia Commons/White House/Daniel Torok)

JAKARTA - South Africa is not anti-American and still wants to negotiate a trade agreement with the United States, a spokesman for the Ministry of Trade said, after US President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10 percent tariff on countries that are members of the BRICS group.

President Trump has accused the group of developing BRICS countries, one of which is South Africa, of having an "anti-American" policy on Sunday, as BRICS leaders hold a summit in Brazil.

South Africa has been trying to negotiate a trade agreement with Trump's government since May, when President Trump hosted President Cyril Ramaphosa to negotiate at the White House.

"We are still waiting for formal communications from the US regarding our trade agreement, but our talks remain constructive and bear fruit," Commerce Ministry spokesman Kaamil Alli told Reuters.

"As we have said before, we are not anti-American," Alli said.

President Trump himself did not clarify or expand references to "Anti-American policy" in his posts on social media.

"Every country that aligns itself with the Anti-American BRICS policy, will be subject to an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions for this policy. Thank you for your attention to this issue!" President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

It is known that BRICS is holding a summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto attended this meeting, after Indonesia was fully accepted as a member in January 2025.

In a joint statement on Sunday, the leaders present supported plans to pilot the BRICS Multilateral Guarantee initiative in the group's New Development Bank, to lower financing costs and increase investment in member countries, Reuters first reported last week.