South Africa’s part in AGOA could be under threat due to country's 'relationship' with Russia.
South Africa’s place in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) could be under threat due to SA's relationship with Russia.
Motheo Khaoripe is joined by John Hudson, head of agriculture at Nedbank, to discuss the impact of South Africa's potential removal from AGOA.
Listen to the interview here.
We export more than 50% of what we produce, so a market like the United States is really important, says John Hudson, Head of Agriculture - Nedbank.
It's around 5% of our total exports, and last year our total exports were $12.8 billion. The citrus industry in particular would be affected by our expulsion from Agoa.
About 9% of our citrus crop goes there... we are going to expand our total citrus export from around 160 million cartons to 230 million to 250 million in the next few years... to lose that market means we have to look for another market...
A further consideration, warns Hudson, is the prospect of sanctions. If we don't renew the agreement and it goes to full-blown sanctions, that's a completely different ball game.
Then we will lose that market and you might expect that other countries such as the UK and the EU as a block would stop trading with South Africa... 40% of our trade goes to those countries.
DIRCO claims that the US has no intention of moving the AGOA forum from South Africa. However, a number of senior US legislators are publically calling for South Africa to be punished for its perceived support of Russian aggression.
Last week, the DA made a formal submission to the United States Trade Representative, motivating for South Africa’s inclusion in AGOA’s annual renewal.
South Africa's world-beating car manufacturing industry is likely to suffer an existential threat if the country is removed from AGOA.
DA leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday visited BMW's manufacturing plant in Tswhane and highlighted the likely collapse of South Africa’s multi-billion rand vehicle manufacturing sector, should South Africa be excluded from AGOA.