The trade deficit between South Africa and its Brics partners has grown by $9.6bn, research shows. The findings call into question the nature of the country’s continued participation in the bloc it joined in 2010. Conducted by top academic Bhaso Ndzendze, a professor of politics and international relations at the University of Johannesburg, the study calls for a Brics treaty to be established to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers.
“Looking at the period between 2010, when South Africa first entered Brics, up to 2024 points to three trends. The first is that South Africa has had a deficit, and that this trade position has not changed over the 14-year period,” the research paper says. “Second, the deficit has been growing.
It has widened continuously, growing from $3.6bn in 2010 to $13.2bn in 2024. “Third, when compared with the EU and the US, the Brics deficit is out of proportion. Indeed, South Africa enjoys a narrowing deficit with the former and a surplus with the latter.
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“Bric-bound exports from South Africa have grown by an average of 11.49% a year since joining in 2010. However, Bric countries are not importing South Africa’s manufactured goods at a significant rate since joining.” The study, which compares trade gains made by South Africa from its Brics membership since 2010, was published in the Asian Review of Political Economy, a research journal that publishes research in the fields of political economy, finance, trade and investment. Bric countries are not importing South Africa’s manufactured goods at a significant rate since joining.
The research reviews a dataset consisting of exports and imports to and from the Brics countries in 2010-24 through a trend analysis and a comparative trade balance analysis. The study also draws on the South African Revenue Service (Sars) as well as the UN’s Trademap database, with a particular focus on South African exports to the respective markets and balance of trade therewith. The findings present a dilemma to Pretoria, which has moved closer to Moscow and Beijing than Washington.
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