With the United States imposing a 30% tariff on South African exports and domestic protectionism already strangling competition, South Africa’s economy is facing a double blow. Jobs, growth, and investment hang in the balance.

Join us for the launch of FMF Senior Associate Dr Morné Malan’s latest policy paper: Troubled Waters: Rescuing South Africa from a Tariff Disaster.

The paper makes the case for dismantling trade barriers, both at home and in response to foreign tariffs, as the only way to unlock South Africa’s full economic potential. Drawing on the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World report, it shows how free trade fosters innovation, lowers prices, attracts investment, and creates opportunity, while tariffs, whether imposed in Pretoria or Washington, do the opposite.

This paper forms part of the Liberty First initiative, a campaign dedicated to advancing individual freedom, constitutional governance, and economic prosperity.