With South Africa’s duty-free access to US markets under AGOA at risk, the government is reportedly preparing to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the Trump administration to secure key export and import terms.
The South African government is preparing to pitch a bilateral trade agreement to the US if President Donald Trump’s administration revokes the nation’s preferential access later this year, BusinessTech reported.
This bilateral trade agreement would replace South Africa’s duty-free access to the US, which may be lost when the AGOA trade benefits come up for renewal in September, the publication said. It quoted sources who asked not to be identified as they weren’t authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
South Africa is Africa’s most-industrialised nation. The US is South Africa’s largest trading partner after China and many of the nation’s exports qualify for duty-free access under AGOA.
Unlike under AGOA, a bilateral agreement would give South Africa a chance to negotiate tariffs with the US on key exports and imports, the publication said.
It noted that during President Trump’s first term in office, his administration sought to pursue bilateral deals with sub-Saharan African nations. It said the US president had made striking trade deals – often requiring increased purchases of US goods – a centrepiece of his tariff and trade policy.
BusinessTech also detailed the reasons South Africa’s trade with the US is under threat. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order which froze US aid to South Africa, claiming South Africa expropriates land from white Afrikaans farmers, and citing South Africa’s World Court case alleging Israel’s assault on Gaza was an act of genocide.
“South Africa’s increasingly close ties with China and its refusal to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have also raised concern in the US,” it said.
