This is according to the Senior government officials said this Friday.

Trump imposed a 31% tariff on US imports from SA on Wednesday, when he announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and higher targeted duties on dozens of countries.

The US is SA's second-largest bilateral trading partner after China.

Africa's most industrialised nation has said previously that it wants to agree a bilateral trade deal with Trump's team. That looks to be a tall order, however, after the US President's repeated attacks on South Africa since his return to the White House in January.

"To say we will impose reciprocal tariffs without first understanding how the US arrived at 31% would be counterproductive," trade minister Parks Tau told a press conference, saying SA's average tariff on imports was 7.6%.


--Reuters--