South African exports to US remain strong

Despite strained diplomatic relations between Pretoria and the Washington DC, South African exports to the US remain strong.

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Data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that South Africa’s trade surplus with the US improved to $644 million (R10.7 billion) in January from $544 million in December.

South African exports were volatile in 2025

South African exporters knew that Donald Trump would impose tariffs on imports to the US once he became President on 20 January 2025. What they did not know was when and how high the tariffs would be.

Consequently, they decided to ship as many products as they could before the tariffs were imposed. Hence South African exports to the US jumped to $2.253 billion in January from $1.459 billion in December and $1.321 billion in November. November 2024 was the month Trump was elected.

SA Exports to US monthly data sourced from US Bureau of Economic Analysis

Exports peaked in February at $3.337 billion before easing to a “normal” $1.411 billion in March. Eventually Trump made good on his promise of increased tariffs. On “Liberation Day” 9 April 2025 he unveiled a chart with 30% tariffs imposed on South African exports to the US.

Straightaway this led to record weakness in the rand. It hit R19.93/US$1 on that day, but recovered after Trump announced a 90-day pause in implementing the tariffs on 11 April. Significantly, the pause came after a severe down turn in the US stock market.

Exemptions

Due to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, the US exempted certain South African exports from its tariffs.

These were concentrated in so-called “strategic minerals”. Markedly they included platinum group metals, gold, manganese, chrome, copper, and coal. To protect US consumers, other exempt products include certain agricultural items such as citrus. It also excluded semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, medical products, and specific wood products.

Vehicle exports most affected

Vehicle exports to North America were the category most affected by the tariffs. Exports fell to only 6 530 units in 2025 from 25 554 units in 2024.

Record annual exports

As stated in the introduction, despite strained diplomatic relations, South African exports remain strong.

This is evident in the fact that South African exports to the US reached a record $16.46 billion in 2025. This was a 12.3% improvement of the $14.656 billion in 2024.

SA Exports to US annual data sourced from US Bureau of Economic Analysis

The previous record of $15.743 billion was set in 2021. Undoubtedly this was because US manufacturers and retailers had to replenish inventories. These had been run down in 2020. Basically, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 meant that global trade was severely hampered.

This is because countries feared the spread of the virus and so restricted international travel.

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