U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday indicated that South Africa could receive a different approach compared to other African nations if the United States extends its trade initiative with sub-Saharan Africa, which expired in September.
Speaking at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Greer emphasized that while the Trump administration supports a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), South Africa presents unique challenges that might warrant separate consideration.
“If you think that we should give South Africa different treatment, I’m open to that because I think they are a unique problem,” Greer said, when asked about the possibility of excluding South Africa from an AGOA extension.
Greer further stressed that for South Africa to benefit from U.S. trade concessions, it would need to reduce tariffs on American products and remove non-tariff barriers that limit trade. The U.S. currently imposes a 30% tariff on certain South African imports, a measure taken after Pretoria’s trade proposals went unanswered.
Tensions between Washington and Pretoria have been escalating. The U.S. recently boycotted a G20 leaders’ summit hosted in South Africa and announced that it would exclude South Africa from next year’s G20 meeting in Miami. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump have also accused South Africa of discriminatory practices against its white citizens, a claim widely discredited internationally.
Greer highlighted that South Africa, with its industrial and agricultural base, should be a significant buyer of U.S. goods. “They’re a big economy, right? They have an industrial base. They have an agricultural base; they should be buying things from the United States,” he said.
While supporting a short-term AGOA extension, Greer made it clear that the U.S. would use this period to engage with Congress on measures to improve the initiative and address trade imbalances.
Human perspective: The debate over South Africa’s participation in AGOA underscores the complexities of international trade, where economic opportunities intersect with political tensions. For South African businesses, farmers, and consumers, the decisions made in Washington could have a tangible impact on daily life, from prices in stores to employment in manufacturing. At its heart, this isn’t just about tariffs and trade laws—it’s about people whose livelihoods depend on fair access to global markets.
