The US ambassador to SA talked up the trade merits of a Donald Trump presidency in the US on Wednesday, but analysts were more circumspect in their outlook. Trump on Wednesday beat markets favourite Hillary Clinton to become the 45th US president. He has described the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation as a "disaster" and has suggested that he could pull the US out of the organisation if the rules proved to be an obstacle to his plans to protect manufacturing in the US. He has promised to punish US firms that move jobs to Mexico and slap a 45% tariff on Chinese imports to try to claw back a trade deficit with China that the US government put at $367bn in 2015. Ambassador Patrick Gaspard said there was nothing to suggest that a Republican administration would meaningfully affect the healthy trade relations between the two countries. The US is SA’s third-largest trading partner, with trade between the two countries topping R155bn last year. The more than 600 US companies operating ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.