South Africa: Trade high on Ramaphosa’s US agenda
In an effort to extend South Africa’s preferential trade agreement with the US, trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel is holding high-level meetings with US legislators ahead of the UN General Assembly this week.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is understood to have attended some of the meetings, including with senator Gregory Meeks, the foreign affairs committee chair who called on the US to strip SA of the right to host the 2023 Agoa forum, accusing Pretoria of supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine.
SA has denied the allegations.
Patel is also expected to meet US trade representative Katherine Tai in New York this week where the pair are expected to discuss preparations for the forum.
The Agoa forum, which is expected to map out trade relations between SA and the US, will be held in SA in November, the cabinet confirmed last week.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade pact gives preferential access for some SA products to the US markets. The current 10-year cycle ends in 2025.
SA’s stance on the Ukraine war raised fear that SA could bekicked out of Agoa, which affects access for about 20% of SA exports to the US, or 2% of SA’s exports globally.
“If Agoa is not extended then the US has taken a position of rejecting SA’s nonaligned position,” said a source.
Ramaphosa is in the US this week to take part in UN General Assembly in New York. He is accompanied by Patel and international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor, forestry, fisheries & the environment minister Barbara Creecy, health minister Joe Phaahla, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and planning, monitoring & evaluation minister Maropene Ramokgopa.
The General Assembly is the main policymaking organ of the UN and is a forum for multilateral discussions by member states on a range of international issues covered by the UN Charter.
It is the first meeting of the UN General Assembly since the Brics summit in SA that called for the reform of global financial and political institutions.
Ramaphosa also met UN secretary-general António Guterres.
“The secretary-general and the president discussed developments related to the reform of the international financial architecture and other initiatives in support of the sustainable development goals, as well as the reform of the United Nations Security Council. The secretary-general commended SA for its important role in advancing these efforts,” said the office of the UN secretary-general.
Read related news articles
South Africa walks a tightrope on US relations
South Africa has been conducting a high-wire act in its relations with the United States (US). It is maintaining friendships with Washington’s enemies like Russia, Iran and China while trying to avoid disrupting its economic relations with America. Tensions came closer than ever to breaking point this month as the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations...
28 March 2024
Remarks by Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo on the US-South Africa economic relationship
As Prepared for Delivery in Johannesburg, South Africa Thank you for the warm welcome. I want to express my gratitude to Consul General Spera and the American Chamber of Commerce for hosting me. I am honored to be joined today by South African Entrepreneurs that are building companies to unlock the economic potential of their country. I owe my own presence here today to the inspiration I drew from South Africa. In the middle of the...
13 March 2024
South African president Ramaphosa meets with US congressional delegation
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 21 February 2024, received for a visit from a bipartisan congressional delegation from the United States of America, in Tuynhuys, Cape Town. The delegation is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Aspen Institute. The President and the US congressional delegation discussed the importance of the relationship between South Africa and the US, which manifests in strong economic,...
21 February 2024
US congress receives Bill to review South Africa relations
A bill has been submitted to the United States congress calling for a full review of the country’s bilateral relationship with South Africa following the International Court of Justice ruling that found it plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide against Gaza. The bipartisan bill which was introduced by US Republican congressman John James and Democratic Party congressman Jared Moskowitz this week could threaten South...
09 February 2024
Fitch research unit expects better AGOA deal for South Africa
Fitch’s research arm, BMI, believes SA has done enough to get improved trade terms under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), which it expects to be extended and modified before its expiry in September 2025. But it warns that the deal might be stillborn if Donald Trump is elected US president. The research think-tank said in a note it assigns a 65% probability that Agoa will not only be renewed but modified to the benefit of...
09 January 2024
South Africa: BLSA CEO calls for more companies to leverage AGOA opportunities
Many more South African companies could benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible countries access to US markets free of tariff barriers, business organisation BusinessLeadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. Apart from mainstream formal sector businesses, there are opportunities to enable more entrepreneurs, including women-led...
20 November 2023
US ambassador: AGOA is an opportunity to deepen ties between the US and South Africa
President Joe Biden last December at the US-Africa Leaders Summit affirmed that the US will elevate its relationship with Africa. The future is Africa. One example is its youthful population: the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people in the world will be in Africa. The US wants them to be healthy and wealthy. What happens in Africa will affect the rest of the globe — and we want to work together to ensure it is...
09 November 2023
US Senator Chris Coons proposes AGOA extension by 16 years, immediate review of SA’s AGOA eligibility
Powerful US Democratic Party Senator Chris Coons is circulating a discussion draft of a Bill to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for 16 years that would also require an immediate “out-of-cycle” review of South Africa’s eligibility for Agoa. That could lead to South Africa being removed next year from the programme, which has provided considerable benefits to SA exporters to the US of cars, fruits and wine, in...
07 November 2023
AGOA benefits extend beyond trade [incl. VIDEO of Friday's opening session]
Economies in Sub-Saharan countries stand to benefit far more from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) than notable trade statistics, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “AGOA enhances the diversification of African economies, enabling them to export value-added products. By enabling African countries to have preferential access to the US market, this opportunity incentivises African countries to develop and export value-added goods...
06 November 2023
South Africa pins its hopes on an early 2024 US Congress renewal of AGOA
South Africa’s government is hoping that the process to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) by the US Congress will be concluded by early 2024, ensuring that more than 20 African countries continue to have duty-free access to the world’s largest economy. This is the first time that the South African government has given a timeline for when it hopes the US Congress might extend Agoa, which has been renewed twice...
05 November 2023
SA trade minister Patel expresses confidence at media briefing about South Africa’s continued inclusion in AGOA
Ahead of South Africa hosting the US-AfricaTrade and Economic Cooperation Forum – also called the AGOA Forum – from November 2 to 4, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on October 26 briefed the media on the state of readiness for the forum, expressing confidence that the South African government’s relations with the US were strong. Various South African stakeholders have been motivating for...
26 October 2023