Ramaphosa sees 'silver lining' to US tariffs 'chaos' as he seeks alternative markets for SA goods

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa said he won’t let a good crisis go to waste as he lobbies trade partners in a bid to find alternative markets for South Africa goods.

Ramaphosa made the latest appeal at the close of his visit to Japan for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development at the weekend.

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He spent last week in Japan, where he was also joined by a high-level business delegation.

Japan is one of South Africa's major economic partners, with sizeable investments in the South African economy.

Ramaphosa hopes South African exports will face lower duties in Asian markets after the United States (US) raised tariffs to 30%.

While Ramaphosa said the higher US tariffs would have a devastating blow for some South African industries, he said all was not lost.

"Sometimes out of chaos comes opportunities and we are now capitalising on that opportunity. We are finding that a number of countries have been hungry for South African products and have been looking forward to doing business with us. As they say in the classics, 'every cloud has a silver lining.'"