The South African rand weakened in early trade on Friday, as investors awaited details of President Cyril Ramaphosa's telephone call with his US counterpart President Donald Trump on bilateral trade.

US imports from South Africa face a 30% duty, the highest rate among Sub-Saharan African countries but Ramaphosa's office said on Thursday that he held a telephone call with Trump and that the two countries' trade negotiating teams will have more detailed talks.

At 0623 GMT the rand traded at 17.7325 against the dollar, 0.1% softer than Thursday's close.

South Africa tried for months but failed to negotiate a trade deal with Washington ahead of Trump's deadline.

"One can only hope that SA can tap into its Bricss alliance to help offset the full impact of US tariffs," said ETM Analytics in a note, referring to a trading bloc consisting of Russia, India, Brazil, China and other emerging nations.

"The irony is that in exerting its global dominance, the US is steadily taking steps to undermine its future influence by encouraging countries and companies to rely less on the US, trade away and seek alternative trading partners," said the note.

South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond was weaker in early deals, as the yield rose 2 basis points to 9.68%.