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The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, Ms Sonja Boshoff, has expressed grave concern over the impending 30% tariff imposed by the United States government on key South African exports, as the tariffs will have far-reaching consequences for exporters and on the broader ailing South African economy.

Ms Boshoff said the US tariff order, which was signed yesterday and is set to come into effect on 1 August 2025, undermines the historical US–SA trade cooperation and poses a serious threat to strategic sectors such as citrus, macadamia, automotive components, steel and aluminium. “These industries are not abstract economic indicators; they are lifelines for tens of thousands of workers, particularly in rural and small-town South Africa,” emphasised Ms Boshoff.

She said South Africa's citrus industry alone supports more than 35 000 jobs and contributes over R38 billion annually to the economy. “A tariff of this magnitude threatens not only the profitability of our exporters, but the livelihoods of workers and the economic stability of entire agricultural regions,” stressed Ms Boshoff.

She said the tariff order also casts a dark shadow over the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which has long facilitated preferential access to US markets. With the new duty effectively neutralising those preferences, there is growing uncertainty for producers who depend on predictable market access to plan, invest and grow.

“It is critical that trade agreements are honoured in good faith. No country can plan its industrial or export strategy under a cloud of sudden and unilateral tariff hikes” said Ms Boshoff.

The committee recognises that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) is pursuing negotiations with its US counterparts, reportedly offering strategic Liquefied Natural Gas procurement in exchange for a more reasonable tariff ceiling. However, such engagements must be swift, transparent and rooted in the national interest.

“We cannot afford diplomatic dithering. Every delay will deepen the uncertainty in our export industries. The government must urgently finalise a sustainable trade path with the United States and, simultaneously, accelerate diversification into new markets across the EU, Asia and Africa,” stressed Ms Boshoff.

The committee calls on the DTIC and the Department of Agriculture to provide support packages and market reorientation strategies for the most affected industries. This must include logistics relief, export finance support, and new market facilitation, particularly for emerging farmers and SMEs.

“At a time when South Africa is battling record unemployment and low growth, punitive tariffs by our biggest trading partners are not just economic risks, they are catalysts for deeper inequality. We must respond with urgency, precision and policy agility,” Ms Boshoff noted.

This unprecedent development cannot be approached with a “let it go” attitude, Ms Boshoff said. She called on the South African government to urgently send a high-level delegation to Washington to undertake repair of diplomatic ties and to reaffirm South Africa's commitment to constructive engagement.

President Trump signed the tariff order on Monday, 7 July, after the withdrawal of US grant funding for critical programmes in South Africa. The tariff order, which will apply to all South African products entering the US market, will come into effect from 1 August 2025.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

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The Malawi Ministry of Health, launched its updated plan for the implementation of its Genomic Surveillance Strategy that was produced with technical support from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention – Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI) on 3 July.

As pathogen genomics provides a powerful approach towards the investigation, management, and surveillance of infectious diseases, the plan is geared to include integration of multi-pathogen genomic surveillance into existing public health systems, research and development.

The second version of the plan is aligned to Africa CDC Pathogen Genomics Surveillance Policy Framework and identified priority list of pathogens and use cases for genomic surveillance in Malawi and the region.  The strategy has a robust, comprehensive, fully integrated, harmonized and well-coordinated mechanisms to guide monitoring of the implementation of the plan and evaluate impact.  The improved plan has a National Genomics Committee comprising of a steering committee, advisory group and laboratories from public, private and academia. The first genomic strategy was launched in 2023 and runs to 2030

In his opening remarks, Secretary for Health Dr. Samsom Kwazirira Mndolo emphasized the critical role of genomics in monitoring antimicrobial resistance, disease outbreak detection, response and prevention as well in precision medicine. 

He underscored the role of the plan as a roadmap for implementing a robust one health genomic surveillance system across the country with different multi stakeholders, ministries and partners.

“We have been front runners in genomics, but we lost the opportunity to learn from others, so we decided to revisit and update the 2023 plan,” said Dr Mndolo.

“This moment marks the dawn of a new era, where science, innovation, and determination converge to build a stronger, more resilient health system for all starting from Malawi by leveraging genomic sequencing power to identify and track pathogens enabling early detection, tracking and characterization of pathogens,” said Dr Lul Riek, Director for the Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre.

Dr Riek said by integrating pathogen genomic sequencing into its healthcare infrastructure, it aims to enhance its health security and swiftly respond to emerging and reemerging threats effectively. “This makes Malawi one step ahead of other countries in disease detection and response,” he said.

“In the face of several emerging and reemerging health threats including Disease X ” a hypothetical emerging pathogen, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the resurgence of Mpox, Marburg, Cholera and other epidemics, we have witnessed firsthand the urgent need for resilient public health surveillance systems that can provide timely and actionable data,” said Dr Francis Chikuse, Senior Technical Officer for Public Health at Africa CDC.

“The National Multi Pathogen Genomic Surveillance Strategy is not just a response to these challenges but a proactive step toward building a robust system that leverages the power of molecular diagnostics and sequencing to safeguard the health of the of Malawians and beyond,” said Dr Chikuse.

He said, Africa CDC in partnership with public, private and philanthropic sectors is enhancing continent-wide sample referral and data sharing strategy, systems, and governance to promote trusted, quality assured and timely data sharing as well as support the design and pilot implementation of high-impact public health priority genomic surveillance and use-cases and facilitate the utility of genomics data for policy, decision making, research and development of pandemic materials. In 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the historic Pandemic Agreement to enhance global collaboration and to create a more equitable response to future pandemics.

Africa CDC is working with 16 Member States including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Morocco, Togo, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Namibia, to develop their national pathogen genomics strategies. Through this collaboration, Malawi becomes the second country after Zambia to launch their genomic strategy.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).