US tariffs 'punishment' for BRICS - Mbalula
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula believes the 30% tariff slapped on South African exports by the US is punishment for BRICS.
The tariff hike US President Donald Trump announced is due to take effect from August 1.
Trump sent letters to trading partners, including South Africa, announcing that duties he had suspended in April would snap back even more steeply in three weeks.
The latest move by the Trump administration may signal the end of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and are seen by some as a threat to the United States' economic influence.
Mbalula spoke to the media outside the home of former Deputy President David Mabuza in Barberton on Tuesday.
"More than any other thing, this seems to be retribution on the basis of belonging to other nations in terms of regional blocs," he said.
"You are being punished for that. It's not only unfair, but at the same time, it is an injustice,
"Our government must stand and actually engage with the United States of America."
