The US Congress has mandated its embassy in Pretoria to determine what the trade relationship between South African and the US will be once the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) comes to an end in 2025.
US Embassy in South Africa economic officer Ed Winant on Wednesday said it was fairly clear that Agoa was not going to be renewed after 2025; however, the US was open to hearing what South Africa wanted from its bilateral trade relationship with the US.
“We have nine years to talk about what the relationship between the countries is going to be,” he stated.
He pointed out that, last year, South Africa exported $7.44-billion worth of goods to the US and that the US was currently South Africa’s third-largest trading partner.
Automobiles were South Africa’s biggest export to the US, with $1.3-billion of vehicles exported to the US in 2015.
“Agriculture is another large export to the US, with macadamia nuts, oranges and wine being the biggest agricultural exports through Agoa,” he pointed out, noting that $131-million of agricultural products were exported to the US in 2015.
Clothing, handbags, shoes, chemicals, car parts, watches and $3 000 worth of pens were also shipped to the US under Agoa last year.
However, the US embassy was hoping to expand the benefits of Agoa to more business in South Africa, especially small and medium sized companies.
“Over 10 000 tariff lines are covered under Agoa and 165 tariff lines are currently used out of 10 000, leaving a lot of room for expansion,” said Winant.