Speaker 1: We're supposed to be hammering out trade deals with the
Speaker 1: United States. All of that something somewhere out of the spotlight,
Speaker 1: I would say, after drama in the Oval Office a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks back. But according to the Minister of Trade,
Speaker 1: Industry and Competition, the United States has put out a
Speaker 1: new trade framework and we have to in putting together
Speaker 1: our proposals for what kind of trade deals we want
Speaker 1: aligned with that framework. Is this simply an admin issue
Speaker 1: or is there more to it than that? And might
Speaker 1: we find ourselves either in perhaps it's calmer waters or
Speaker 1: choppier ones. Let's welcome to talk about that. Chris Hutton,
Speaker 1: who is executive director at the Center for Risk Analysis.
Speaker 1: Mister Hutton, welcome and thanks very much for your time.
Speaker 1: What's the significance of this new framework? Neutral or does
Speaker 1: it bend one way or the other?
Speaker 2: Good oftenoon John, Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker 3: I think, as chanced to be the case with the President.
Speaker 2: Trump and his administration, things are much more complicated than
Speaker 2: they appear on the surface. So I think it does
Speaker 2: give South Africa maybe a different route to talk about
Speaker 2: this kind of thing. But despite wanting to now use
Speaker 2: the new tempt that I still think South Africa should
Speaker 2: focus on what are the priorities from our side and
Speaker 2: how do we get to the table with what the
Speaker 2: US might want from their side. So not to say
Speaker 2: this now gives us an opportunity to kick for touch.
Speaker 2: There's more time to do the admin, there's more time
Speaker 2: to work on the new template. But rather to say
Speaker 2: thank you America, this is what we have, this is
Speaker 2: what we already have sort of in the pipeline to
Speaker 2: bring to the table. How can we build this with
Speaker 2: your current framework kind of thing? We have an even
Speaker 2: better framework that we are bringing to the table.
Speaker 1: So do you have any sense at all of how
Speaker 1: a South Africa's putting together of our package and our
Speaker 1: proposals is going. And secondly, any sense of the kind
Speaker 1: of stuff that's the conversations that might actually be building relationships,
Speaker 1: whether they're personal or between sections of departments. Are we
Speaker 1: moving in the right direction? In general?
Speaker 3: I think in this in this climate, I don't think
Speaker 3: any country would would say they're moving in the right
Speaker 3: or they're direction.
Speaker 2: With President Trump, I mean the only the.
Speaker 3: Only deal effectively that the US has reached is with
Speaker 3: the United Kingdom. I mean, even the deal with China
Speaker 3: was just to bring down the tariff. It was a
Speaker 3: bit of a cease fire, not really a reciprocal trade
Speaker 3: or tariff deal as it were with China. So the
Speaker 3: ninth of July deadline, you know, we know it's been coming.
Speaker 3: The Trump administration, various reps have said they don't think
Speaker 3: they'll meet that deadline. In a way, this for them
Speaker 3: is useful because they can keep the looming reciprocal tariff's
Speaker 3: sword as it were, hanging over many countries and say,
Speaker 3: you know, we're not going to reach the deadline. We
Speaker 3: can continue to negotiate the heart what are you going
Speaker 3: to bring to the table. So that's one point on
Speaker 3: the South Africa, on the DCIC. On international relations, I
Speaker 3: think there has been more of a focus than there
Speaker 3: has been in previous years on just drilling down into
Speaker 3: sort of nitty gritty basics, especially when you talk about
Speaker 3: the outcomes of the White House meeting, where you talk
Speaker 3: about things like buying US gas for example, or looking
Speaker 3: at other areas where US companies can invest in South Africa,
Speaker 3: looking at some policy reforms that make it easier for
Speaker 3: US companies to invest.
Speaker 2: I think there has been a focus there.
Speaker 3: Whether those deals are just one sort of one more
Speaker 3: dot away from being signed or not that I'm speaking
Speaker 3: under correction that I'm not sure about.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Chris Hutton, Center for Risk Analysis,
Speaker 1: Executive Directors joining us on seven two Drive. I'd like
Speaker 1: to know if you are involved in business with companies
Speaker 1: or other kinds of entities in the United States, one
Speaker 1: way or another, goods coming in, goods use sending across.
Speaker 1: How are you handling this period of relative uncertainty? I mean,
Speaker 1: is it affecting your business? Are you holding back on
Speaker 1: investment plans? Are there freezers on hiring? Or do you
Speaker 1: sense the water is now calmer, even if it's not
Speaker 1: yet crystal clear, and that let's get on with it.
Speaker 1: Let's do what we must and do it as best
Speaker 1: we can. I'd love to hear from you if you
Speaker 1: are actually a player in this space, however, big or small.
Speaker 1: Oh seven two, seven oh two one seven oh two,
Speaker 1: twenty seven minutes past four