Washington (United States) (AFP) – The United States said on Monday it would remove South Africa and Rwanda from a major Africa-US trade preference programme, citing practices it said were “inconsistent” with the scheme’s eligibility criteria. “These concerning and pervasive practices include, but are not limited to, barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region,” Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. The exclusions will take effect from January 1, the statement said.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to the US market, has been renewed until the end of 2028, but is reviewed annually. South Africa is the program’s largest beneficiary, but its eligibility has come under scrutiny as Washington steps up criticism of Pretoria, including false allegations of discrimination against white Afrikaners that South Africa rejects. Trade Minister Parks Tau said it was “unfortunate” Washington was raising issues that had not previously featured in negotiations, despite additional concessions offered by Pretoria.
Acknowledging the potential fallout for workers and businesses, Tau said the government had retained measures introduced in response to US reciprocal tariffs and would support affected industries while stepping up efforts to diversify export markets. “AGOA remains important to South Africa, but it does not constitute the totality of the economic relationship between South Africa and the United States,” he said. About 10 percent of South African exports to the US entered under the programme in 2025, down from 28 percent in the previous year, he said. The programme provides duty-free access to the US market for South African vehicles, the country’s second-largest export earner to the United States after precious metals, according to the South African Revenue Service.
The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) called the exclusion “a serious blow” to the industry, warning that jobs and the economies of entire towns were at stake. South Africa is the world’s second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, and citrus is its largest agricultural export sector by value. Growers cannot easily redirect fruit to alternative markets because importing countries have different phytosanitary requirements and consumer preferences, said Gerrit van der Merwe, the association’s chairman. “That entire value chain, on both sides of the Atlantic, is now under threat,” CGA said in a statement.
The US president reviews countries’ eligibility for AGOA annually. Any removal requires 60 days’ notice to Congress and the country concerned. Washington also has been increasing economic pressure on Rwanda over its alleged backing of the armed M23 rebel group in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week, the United States sanctioned the Rwandan defense ministry over those ties, which the Rwandan government denies. With Rwandan help, the M23 movement has seized swathes of the eastern DRC — home to valuable minerals coveted by world powers — since it took up arms again in 2021.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told AFP last week that his country should not be a “scapegoat” for events in DR Congo. “The situation in the DRC, the political situation, the security situation, is mainly a Congolese issue,” Nduhungirehe told AFP on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow before the US sanctions were imposed. “Rwanda must not be held as a scapegoat for what is happening in Congo forever,” he added.
© 2024 AFP
