Trump defends latest round of tariff hikes

JOHANNESBURG - United States (US) President Donald Trump is looking to strike gold with some African countries as he finds five new friends on the continent.

Trump made the comments during the Africa summit in Washington on Wednesday.

This is part of his attempt to make economic inroads on the continent, where trade ties with China have increased significantly.

Five African leaders were at the table with Trump, including leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.

The mini summit takes place as America eyes untapped natural resources on the continent.

Trump also used the meeting to lobby the leaders.

“We encourage the countries here today to make better investments in defence, hopefully you guys are buying our defence equipment, because we do make the best military equipment, and I guess we proved that in Iran two weeks ago, and keep pursuing the fight against terrorism, which is a big problem in Africa.”

TRUMP DEFENDS TARIFF HIKES

Trump has defended the latest round of tariff hikes for friends and foes as his calculations again come under scrutiny.

He said that he plans to ramp up reciprocal tariffs after slapping more than a dozen countries with letters putting them on notice for higher levies.

South Africa now faces a 30% levy on exports that are US-bound from August.

Speaking during the summit on Wednesday, Trump hinted at five African countries that may be exempt from what some have called punishing taxes.

Only five African leaders joined Trump in Washington for the mini-Africa summit, including leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.

The trade volume with the US of the five African countries that joined Trump is at a lower scale than that of other trade partners and leading economies on the continent.

The continent’s leading economies, South Africa and Nigeria, were not part of the summit.

As countries across the world wait to be served with letters of potentially higher tariffs, Trump said the calculations are based on facts and history.

“The formula was a formula based on common sense, based on deficits, based on how we’ve been treated over the years.”

He said the five countries at the table with him were unlikely to feel the tariff pinch.

“I haven't thought of it, but I like him, him, him, him and him. No, I don’t think so, not too much. These are friends of mine now.”

While Trump has drawn a hard line in the sand, South Africa still hopes to negotiate for more favourable trade terms.

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