President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is looking to strengthen its trade relationship with the United States through bilateral negotiations following the country’s removal from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The US decision, which takes effect on 1 January 2027, will end South Africa’s preferential duty-free access to the American market under the trade programme.
However, Ramaphosa insists that the development does not signal the end of trade relations between the two countries.
Speaking at his voting station in Hyde Park on Wednesday, the President said government wanted to move towards a bilateral trade agreement that would allow both countries to negotiate mutually beneficial trade arrangements.
He described AGOA as a unilateral arrangement and argued that bilateral negotiations would provide an opportunity for South Africa and the US to agree on trade rules while respecting each country’s sovereignty.
“We want to focus more on a bilateral trade agreement where both parties sit down and negotiate trade rules, trade mechanisms that in our view will enforce and reconfirm our own sovereignty as well as the sovereignty of the United States,” Ramaphosa said.
He added that South Africa already had trade dealings with the US involving various products outside the AGOA framework.
The government is therefore seeking to preserve these broader economic ties while exploring new arrangements to maintain access to the American market for South African businesses and exporters.