The President of South Africa said on Sunday that his government will not respond out of spite or driven by emotions to the 31% tariffs that the President of the United States has imposed on South African exports.

"These are issues that we will continue to deal with in a very responsible and very appropriate way. We are not a government that acts out of spite and we are not a government that acts out of emotion," Cyril Ramaphosa told the press during an assembly of his party, the African National Congress (ANC), quoted by Notícias ao Minuto.

The South African leader argued that the US, "as a sovereign country, has the right to make whatever decisions it wants". "They have imposed tariffs and we are examining the impact they will have on us," he added.

On Friday, South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, said that the reciprocal tariffs would affect various sectors of the South African economy, including the automotive industry, agriculture, processed food and beverages, metals, chemicals and other segments of industry.

Although some products, such as steel, pharmaceuticals and certain critical minerals and energy resources, have benefited from exemptions, Lamola warned that the tariffs will have "implications for jobs and growth" in the country.

To counter the impact, Lamola said that Pretoria is already working to diversify export destinations to new markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

On Wednesday, during an event at the White House, US President Donald Trump imposed a universal 10% tariff, which came into force on Saturday, and an additional levy on what Washington considers to be the "worst offenders" for their barriers to US products.

On February 7, Trump also ordered the blocking of all aid to South Africa, after accusing the South African government of "confiscating" land from the white Afrikaner minority (descendants of Dutch settlers) and of harming Israel with its accusation of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The African countries for which tariffs have been announced also include Lesotho (50%), Madagascar (47%), Angola (32%), South Africa (31%), Namibia (21%), Zambia (17%), Mozambique (16%), Nigeria (14%), Equatorial Guinea (13%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (11%) and Cameroon (11%), in addition to several states on the continent being covered by the 10% tariffs that came into force on Saturday.