It’s anyone’s guess what will happen in 2025 when the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) expires, but it remains a golden opportunity for South African exporters to establish a foothold in the United States (US). According to Juan Manuel Cammarano, trade and investment officer at the US Embassy in Pretoria, Agoa remains a priority for trade officials and they are actively encouraging South African exporters to increase trade with the US. “We don’t know what is going to happen between now and 2025,” he said when quizzed on whether Agoa would be extended beyond 2025. This unilaterally granted trade concession from the US to qualifying African nations to export their goods to America, duty-free was re-authorised in 2015 for ten years. But, said Cammarano, whether it would be renewed or not it continued to offer a golden opportunity to establish relationships with US importers for the long term. “The agreement has support on both sides of Congress’s aisles,” he said, indicating that there were Democrats and Republicans in favour and against the agreement. “It remains a priority for trade officials and we want to see trade with South Africa grow.” Cammarano said South Africa was the top export market on the continent for US goods – a spot it had held for the past decade. “US exports to South Africa exceeded $5.52 billion in 2018, a 10% increase over 2017,” he said. South Africa was also the top supplier of goods from sub-Saharan Africa to the US. “This includes the oilexporting Agoa countries,” said Cammarano. “South Africa accounts for roughly one third of sub-Saharan goods exports to the US, about $8.47 billion of $24.33 billion. South Africa’s exports to the US through Agoa in 2018 also grew to $959 billion, over 10% of its total exports to the US.” Encouraging South African exporters to make use of Agoa, Cammarano said it allowed for South African products to enter the US at very competitive prices, but more importantly for exporters to build the necessary long-term relationships with importers. “Exporters from Agoaeligible countries have a competitive advantage,” he said. “It is by no means a silver bullet and one still has to work hard to establish the relationships and gain the confidence of one’s trading partners, but it does sweeten the sales pitch.”
