South African Trade Strategy: Rearranging the Deck Chairs?

The document details a discussion on South Africa's trade strategy amidst the suspension of WTO Doha Round negotiations and regional pressures. Panelists debated whether trade policy should be driven by domestic economic needs through unilateral reform or by strategic industrial policy and negotiated agreements. Key discussions covered the gridlock over agricultural subsidies in the WTO, the limited scope of existing free trade agreements (FTAs), and the complexities of achieving a SADC Customs Union by 2010.

• The breakdown of the WTO Doha Round negotiations was primarily caused by gridlock over agricultural issues, specifically the United States' domestic support and the European Union's tariff protection.
• South Africa's export performance is hindered more by internal supply constraints than by a lack of access to foreign markets, suggesting that policy should focus on improving export profitability through stable exchange rates, better infrastructure, and lower input costs.
• There is a perceived need for South Africa to simplify and rationalise its tariff structure unilaterally to reduce the cost of doing business, as the current structure is driven by various levels of negotiations rather than a clear domestic economic strategy.
• Existing free trade agreements (FTAs) involving South Africa, including those with the EU, SADC, and EFTA, account for approximately 40% of its total goods trade but fail to adequately address services, investment, or intellectual property.
• While South Africa may not need the SADC Trade Protocol to expand its own regional trade, the protocol is necessary for the country to open itself to the rest of Africa and support the creation of the African Economic Community.
• Intra-SADC trade is characterised by a pattern where SADC countries export raw materials to South Africa in exchange for capital equipment and manufactured goods, with SACU countries sourcing only 17% of imports from within SACU and 2% from the rest of SADC.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2006). South African Trade Strategy: Rearranging the Deck Chairs? https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Record_SA-Strategy.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. South African Trade Strategy: Rearranging the Deck Chairs? 2006. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Record_SA-Strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=South African Trade Strategy: Rearranging the Deck Chairs? |date=2 August 2006 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Record_SA-Strategy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2006south, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{South African Trade Strategy: Rearranging the Deck Chairs?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2006}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Record_SA-Strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }