South Africa will pay more for trade with Washington
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on TimesLIVE
Illustrative image · Khaya Motsa · Pexels · Licence PexelsSouth Africa’s exclusion from AGOA will increase the costs of its trade with the United States, particularly for some exported products. South African exports benefiting from AGOA preferences are worth about $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, while bilateral trade reached $28.8 billion in 2025, according to Business Times.
South Africa’s exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the US trade preference regime for African countries, will increase the cost of some South African exports to the United States. Saul Levin, executive director of Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, told Business Times that the end of AGOA benefits would not eliminate bilateral trade, but would increase the cost of doing business and of some South African products in the United States.
South African exports benefiting from AGOA preferences are worth about $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion. The rest of the roughly $16.5 billion in annual exports to the United States is already mainly covered by the World Trade Organisation’s most-favoured-nation rules. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $28.8 billion in 2025, according to Business Times.
Saul Levin believes that exclusion from AGOA is part of a deterioration in relations between Washington and Pretoria and considers South Africa’s return to the scheme unlikely during US President Donald Trump’s term. He nevertheless stressed that critical minerals remain an important element of trade relations between the two countries.
