LOOMING TRADE WAR BETWEEN USA, PARTNERS LEAVES SACU VERY WORRIED

Botswana Finance Minister O.K Matambo yesterday told a Council of finance ministers meeting that while there was optimism in terms of global economic growth, due to continued growth in advanced and emerging economies, there was concern following the retaliatory action being taken by the countries affected by the trade war.

“These actions have created heightened tensions among trading partners and are clearly threatening the multilateral trading system on which global trade is based. Therefore, there is urgency for engagement at multi-lateral levels to reach common ground and to contain these developments,” he said.

Matambo was referring to the announcement of a new 25 per cent tariff on US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods by US President Donald Trump last Friday which was subsequently followed by an additional 10 per cent on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods starting July 6, 2018. The tariffs were the result of an investigation by the US Commerce Department into the theft of US intellectual property by Chinese companies.

He was not specific on the scale of impact this would have on the region but it must be noted that SACU provides over 60 per cent of the Kingdom’s national budget.

There are five members of SACU, namely Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.
Matambo was speaking at the official opening of the 35th meeting of the SACU Council of Ministers yesterday, which precedes the SACU Heads of State and Government summit scheduled for tomorrow. The meeting was attended by Eswatini Finance Minister Martin Dlamini and several other top government officials.

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