South Africa retains preferential US market access for 2025
South Africa will retain its preferential access to the US markets for its goods in 2025 despite strained relations between the countries.
After undertaking an annual review of which nations are allowed to enjoy duty-free access to the world’s biggest economy under its African Growth and Opportunity Act, Washington left its list of eligible and ineligible nations unchanged for next year, the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement Sunday.
South Africa’s increasingly close ties with China, refusal to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and its anti-Israel stance have raised concern in the US.
While President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to build ties with the country to counter Russia and China’s influence, US lawmakers have been highly critical of Pretoria after it took Israel to the International Court of Justice over accusations of genocide amid the war in Gaza.
As a result, the US House in June passed a key annual defense policy bill with an amendment calling for a review of South Africa’s national-security risks to the US. The bill still needs approval from the Senate and the White House.
If passed, it could complicate the status of thousands of South African products. They enter the world’s biggest market duty free under AGOA, and the so-called Generalized System of Preferences.
The US is South Africa’s largest trading partner after China. Maintaining favorable commerce ties between the two countries is key to the newly formed South African coalition government’s efforts to bolster an economy that’s barely grown over the past decade.
AGOA is set to expire in 2025. Senators in April introduced a bill to extend the trade program with about 40 sub-Saharan African nations until 2041, but beneficiaries of the agreement are still awaiting formal guidance about its future.
Among the 17 African nations that aren’t eligible for preferential access to the US market are Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
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