Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Thursday that the South African government had put forward a proposal to the US government to roll over the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) "for a reasonable period of time".

Agoa was to come to an end in 2015.

Agoa allowed for the duty-free and quota-free entry of around 7 000 product lines into the US from 37 designated sub-Saharan countries. These product lines included vehicle and component exports, such as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, produced in East London.

Automotive exports to the US numbered $2-billion in 2008, slipping to $1,4-billion in 2009, owing to the global economic crisis diminishing demand, said US ambassador to South Africa, Donald Gips.

Davies said the South African government was "grateful" for the access Agoa provided, and that it had been vital in the promotion of the country's automotive industry exports.

He said it would create a difficult situation should there be "big departures" from the current Agoa programme.

Gips said the US Congress was to make a decision on Agoa, investigating whether it required a renewal and/or modifications.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of South Africa's bilateral trade with the United States, disaggregated by total exports and imports, AGOA exports and GSP exports.

Other regularly updated trade statistics on AGOA.info include: (click each link to view)