The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) on Tuesday called on African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa to be swift and decisive in implementing support mechanisms for exporters and in efforts to expand South Africa's trade markets in response to the punitive tariffs announced by the US.

ANCYL secretary general Mntuwoxolo Ngudle criticised the President and the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) for past commitments with a lack of implementation.

“Too often, progressive policy announcements are not matched by practical execution,” he said.

Last week, US President Donald Trump confirmed that reciprocal tariffs of 30% would be implemented on South African goods from August 7.

During the closing session of the ANC NEC meeting held in Ekurhuleni on Monday, Ramaphosa acknowledged that while government must urgently and purposefully act to limit the impact of the US tariffs, it must also undertake measures to ensure the resilience of the country’s economy and exports into the future.

“We will continue our engagements with the United States with a view of normalising trade relations and generally strengthening bilateral relations. At the same time, we must invest in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and diversifying our export markets,” Ramaphosa said.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is working on several interventions to assist and support various exporters to other markets.

“We are pleased that the producers and exporters are working with our government to find a solution. We began a discussion on the issue of monetary policy and specifically the role and value of inflation targeting,” Ramaphosa said.

Ngudle said the ANCYL welcomed the reaffirmation of industrial policy as an overarching policy instrument within which macro and microeconomic policy will be subordinated, along with the commitment to build a vibrant, inclusive, and resilient economy.

He said the announcement of export quotas, export restrictions of raw commodities, including export taxes and other interventions to assist value-added producers and exporters was of great significance to the ANCYL

“…this is a clear response to one of the long-standing demands of the ANCYL, that our economy must not be left at the mercy of unregulated global markets but must be actively protected and reshaped in the interests of transformative, inclusive growth; youth-empowering reindustrialisation and job creation,” Ngudle said.

The Youth League called on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and all relevant State entities to move from policy discussion to action, with concrete timelines, transparency, and public accountability.

“The time for talk is over. Our generation is hungry for change and cannot afford to wait any longer. The ANCYL will monitor this process closely and will not hesitate to hold the government accountable for the full and urgent implementation of the commitments made,” stated Ngudle.