ITAC, South Africa's agency responsible for tariff review, trade remedies and import and export control, has issued a notice announcing the launch of tariff review of imported steel.
The announcement shows that the review is to deal with the global steel industry overcapacity, imported products impact on the market and other issues, to ensure the sustainable development of South Africa's steel industry chain, to promote South Africa's economic growth.
ITAC plans to establish an import monitoring system and raise import tariffs on some steel products. ITAC is seeking public comment on the proposed measures, calling on stakeholders to submit comments within four weeks from the date of the announcement.
As market concerns about Indonesia's fiscal situation intensified, the rupiah fell to its lowest level against the US dollar since the Asian financial crisis on the 25th.
On the same day, the rupiah fell to 16,641 rupiah to the US dollar, the lowest level since June 1998. Since entering 2025, the rupiah has depreciated by more than 3%.
Analysts believe that a series of policies implemented by the Indonesian government since October 2024 have increased spending, raising the budget deficit to close to the statutory upper limit of 3% of GDP, coupled with global geopolitical tensions and the US government's tariff threats, which have caused investor concerns.
According to Bloomberg, Indonesia's stock market has fallen sharply this year and entered a bear market in February, and the country's bonds have also performed poorly. The Indonesian central bank has been looking for ways to protect the Indonesian currency.
In March this year, the Indonesian central bank announced that it would maintain its policy interest rate unchanged.
US President Trump announced the imposition of so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on trading partners. Previously, several trading partners have said they will take countermeasures in response.
Trump signed two executive orders on so-called "reciprocal tariffs" at the White House on Wednesday afternoon (April 2) (4 a.m. Beijing time on the 3rd), announcing that the United States will set a "minimum benchmark tariff" of 10% for more than 40 trade deficit trading partners, and impose higher tariffs on certain trading partners, with a tax rate of up to 49%. According to the chart he showed, the United States will impose a tariff of 34% on China, 20% on the European Union, and a tariff of up to 46% on Vietnam.
The countries most affected are in Asia, with tariffs of 49%, 46% and 44% for Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar respectively.
US Treasury Secretary Bateson later confirmed to reporters that tariffs on Chinese imports will be increased by 34% to the original 20% rate, for a total of 54%.
In addition, the tax rates of major trading partners such as Japan, India and South Korea are 24%, 26% and 25%.
The tax rates in other Asian countries are: Sri Lanka 44%, Bangladesh 37%, Thailand 36%, Indonesia 32%, Pakistan 29%, Malaysia 24%, Philippines 17%, Israel 17%, Singapore 10%. In addition, Australia's tax rate is 10%.
