The local impact of US President Donald Trump’s 30% tariff on South African imports were a hot topic at a spry. Financial Planning presentation at Linc campus last week.

More than 100 people attended the talk by strategist Jeremy Gardiner, a director of global investment firm Ninety One, who also warned of possible repercussions for the local sugar and macadamia industries.

Gardiner traced the historic roots of the tariffs and projected their future effects, highlighting how international politics ripple through global markets.

“I take a look at the global situations and bring it back to South Africa. Everything happening with our trading partners – the US, UK and Europe – is important,” said Gardiner, who noted that while the tariffs are not a national crisis, they are a significant concern.

Gardiner pointed out that only 8.5% of South Africa’s exports go to the US and most are exempt from tariffs, including all platinum group metals, roughly two-thirds of what is exported to America. Only 2.4% of the country’s exports are affected by Trump’s tariff rate increase.

“It’s auto manufacturing and agriculture where South Africa will get hit the most. There’s no short-term solution,” he said.

The KZN farming sector may be impacted because tariffs on sugarcane – despite only 5% of sugarcane going to the US – and macadamia nuts could lead to possible job losses.

Gardiner suspects the US administration is seeking ideological concessions because of South Africa’s cosy relationships with Iran, Russia, and China.

“If America doesn’t like us because of something we’ve done, they will stop trading, which will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. We have to avoid this,” he warned.

The talk followed a short presentation by Brandon Zietsman, CEO of PortfolioMetrix, on how investor behaviour influences long-term wealth outcomes.

Travis Hawkins, cofounder of the Salt Rock financial planning firm, spry., said they hosted the event to help people make sense of the uncertainty surrounding local and global markets.

“Our goal is to simplify complex financial themes and support smarter decision-making in our community,” said Hawkins.

“Jeremy is the perfect speaker for that, he is insightful, grounded and incredibly engaging.”

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