South Africa’s government is putting the final touches to an overarching package that aims to shield businesses against the fallout from punitive US trade tariffs and plans to present it to lawmakers later this week.

On Thursday, Trump slapped a 30% tariff on South Africa’s imports, the steepest rates in sub-Saharan Africa, a move central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago cautioned could jeopardize over 100,000 jobs in agriculture and automobile industries.

South Africa is already grappling with stubbornly high unemployment rates. The official rate was 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025 according to StatsSA, the national statistical agency.