In a world marked by deepening inequality, tariff wars are among the tactics used by the global far right to undermine workers and threaten jobs, a senior South African official warned on Thursday.

 Nomakhosazana Meth, minister of employment and labor, made the remarks while addressing the crowd at the May Day rally held at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town to mark International Workers’ Day.

 “The extreme right is on the ascent in the United States and many other countries, and among their first actions is to attack workers. The manifestation itself is the tariffs, tariff wars that will impact workers in the market,” Meth said in her speech.

 On April 2, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a set of sweeping tariffs, which he referred to as “reciprocal tariffs,” including a 31 percent tariff on imports from South Africa.

 Despite the dreary weather, hundreds gathered for the annual May Day rally, highlighting the ongoing struggles faced by workers and the poor in South Africa. The rally, held each year on International Workers’ Day, was organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s largest trade union federation.

 Meth said that while many legislative victories have been achieved, enshrining the rights of workers and borne from the struggle of workers, the fight is far from over.

 “We are living in a time when workers are once again being subjected to a new and evolving form of exploitation. The barriers shifted, but they remain as fierce, as relevant as ever. While we have made progress, the challenges before us are formidable,” she said.

 Meth noted this May Day is taking place in a world full of uncertainty and mounting threats to the working class.

 “Our world is more unequal than ever, with only one percent of individuals and companies owning as much as 95 percent of the global wealth,” she said.

 The minister specifically noted that youth unemployment remains alarmingly high in South Africa.

 “Young people are the lifeblood of our workplace, yet they are being abandoned by a system that has failed to create enough jobs for them,” said Meth. “That is why the government has made employment creation the pillar of our policies and actions, including the creation of 1.5 million work opportunities.”

 Meth went on to say that the automation of jobs is threatening to displace workers on a massive scale, and that while technology could bring enormous benefits, it also has the potential to leave millions of workers behind.
 She added that climate change has also had a devastating effect on jobs and threatens to disrupt entire industries.

 “Workers in agriculture, energy, and mining are already feeling the effects of this global crisis. The call for a just transition is louder than ever. We need an economic transformation that does not leave workers behind in the fight against climate change,” she said.