Ramaphosa says G20 to caution itself from Trump's America First policies

As the world awaits the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated the G20 resolution to work together with the new leader.

Ramaphosa reassured them about the relevant steps they have taken to caution against Trump's America First approach in his second administration, which starts on Jan. 20.

“So I think there will be sufficient shock absorbers that will be put in place to enable the G20 to continue to function, in a way that will advance the interests of the world, and remember, through the G20 we are not advancing the interests of one single country. We are advancing the interests of the people of the world, collectively represented in the G20,” said Ramaphosa.

Trump has given an indication that his foreign policy will be combative. He has pledged to impose new tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, while he also threatened this weekend 100% tariffs against nations in the BRICS bloc of developing nations, which include Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and others.

Trump wrote on social media site X that those countries should expect to “wave goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy” if they pursue a policy of looking to move away from the U.S. dollar for international trade.

Ramaphosa said Tuesday he had reached out to the U.S. president-elect to congratulate him on his election victory, he also hoped Trump would travel for the G20 summit in South Africa in late 2025.

”When I spoke to President Trump congratulating him, I informed him that he would need to come to South Africa, and in fact, I invited him to come to South Africa for a state visit, as well as when he comes to attend the G20; and obviously work will ensue when seeing how best to that can be achieved. But we do expect him to attend, as America or the United States as the next president of the G20. So I look forward to handing over the gavel to President Trump," said Ramaphosa.

South Africa assumed the rotational leadership of the group of the world's leading economies on Sunday from Brazil and will hand it over to the United States at the end of 2025.