AgriSA is the latest organization to welcome the United States Senate’s approval of a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Through this trade agreement, sub-Saharan African countries enjoy preferential access to the United States (US) market.
Johann Kotzé, AgriSA Chief Executive Officer, said the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs of 30%, have distorted the benefits of AGOA to some extent, but the programme still remains critically important for South African exporters.
“Amid the uncertainty over the US-SA relationship, South African exports increased by 26% to US$161 million, as exporters made use of a temporary pause in higher tariffs. While exports cooled down slightly in the third quarter, declining by 11% to US$144 million, the US still accounted for between 3% and 6% of South Africa’s total agricultural annual exports” said Kotze.
AGOA has been going for more than 20 years, with the United States buying citrus, ostrich, grapes, wine, fruit juices, and nuts, from SA.
Picture: Department of Trade, Industry and Competition