EDITORIAL: Get ready for Trump’s world
The implications of the Trump presidency are more unpredictable than Brexit’s impact on the EU
At a time when SA urgently needs to grow its exports, the trade and economic policies of the UK and the US are the subject of more than the usual interest — and much more than the usual uncertainty. Both are among SA’s largest trading partners and its largest sources of foreign direct investment, so our economic fortunes are closely linked with theirs. And we can expect more clarity on the direction in which they are headed in the months to come, with UK Prime Minister Theresa May having detailed her Brexit aspirations this week and US president-elect Donald Trump due to be inaugurated on Friday. May’s long-awaited Brexit statement this week was greeted with a surprising amount of optimism, so much so that the pound responded on Tuesday with a gain of more than 3%, its biggest advance in two decades. She has made it clear she wants a "hard" exit from the EU, rather than the softer one that many in the markets had hoped for. Britain will not be remaining in the EU’s single market in ...
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