With the United States’ 30% tariffs about to kick in, the pressure to secure a trade deal is now enormous.
After months of inaction and aimless subterfuge, Business Day is now reporting that DTIC Minister Parks Tau is running for the hills and passing the buck, proposing to implement a taxpayer-funded incentive for exporters about to be hit by U.S. tariffs.
This new deflection by Minister Tau is meant to make up for his and his party’s failed foreign policy pageantry.
Instead of securing a trade deal, Tau now expects our Treasury to borrow or tax South Africans more to pay for the costs of the ANC’s association of our state with rogue nations like Iran.
ANC anti-investor policies have continued, despite all the national dashboard lights flashing bright red.
The National Treasury and by implication South Africans cannot be the funder of last resort if Tau fails to reach a U.S. deal by midnight. The DA will stand behind our Treasury in opposing this scheme.
There’s already a staggering amount of support for the automotive industry from Treasury, including AIS grants and customs subsidies. In 2023, the latter alone cost over R40 billion in foregone revenue, or well over R60 000 lost per vehicle made.
The DA has been clear in calling for the two most effective interventions needed by South Africa’s industrial and agricultural sectors: getting a deal done with the US and fixing our ports.
It’s inconceivable that the taxpayer or auto workers would be left holding the bag for the ANC’s reluctance to negotiate on key red lines for the United States.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the DA doesn’t believe in picking winners across industries. Nor do we have the appetite to bail out losers such as Parks.