JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- As negotiations continue over the 30 percent U.S. import tariffs on South African goods, the South African foreign minister cautioned on Wednesday that despite government optimism, the outcome of the talks remains unclear.
"There is ongoing engagement between the two countries through various interlocutors and various platforms. Whether they will end up with a deal or not, I don't know," said Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola at a media briefing in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital.
Lamola stressed that South Africa was not alone in facing such measures, noting that countries including Brazil, Switzerland, and India had also been hit with high tariffs. "What we will do is to try our best to continue to engage with the hope that we will end up with some form of a positive outcome," said the minister.
Lamola said a delegation of congressional staff from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee would visit South Africa later this week, though no names were released.
When asked about media reports suggesting that South Africa could be cut off from the SWIFT payment system if certain U.S. sanctions were imposed, Lamola said the government had received no such notification.
"On our side, there has been nothing formal, not verbal or anything formal, indicating that South Africa would be removed from the SWIFT system," said the minister.
