Government says it is acting to shield exporters and jobs as US trade extends beyond AGOA
A Government post says trade with Washington goes wider than the AGOA preference programme and that measures are being implemented to support exporters and protect jobs, without naming them.
The Government says trade between South Africa and the United States extends beyond AGOA, and that it is implementing measures to support exporters and protect jobs as that trade continues.
The statement, posted on the Government’s X account on Tuesday, gives no detail on what those measures are, when they take effect, which exporters they cover or what they are worth. It also does not say whether the measures respond to a specific threat to any part of the trade.
What it does establish is the position the state is putting to South African exporters and their workers: that the relationship with Washington is wider than the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and that support is being put in place rather than merely discussed.
AGOA is the United States preference programme that has given many South African goods duty-free access to the American market. The Government’s post treats the programme as one part of the relationship rather than the whole of it, without setting out the other parts.
For exporters, the practical questions the post leaves open are the ones that decide whether a shipment is profitable: which products and destinations the measures cover, how a firm applies, and what happens to existing orders in the meantime. The statement does not answer them.
The Enquirer asked the Government for the detail behind the measures, including their scope, cost and timing, and will report the answer when it comes.
