Ramaphosa warns South Africa to prepare for loss of US-Africa trade deal

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the country should “prepare” for the possibility of being removed from Washington’s duty-free trade programme for Africa, as ties between the two nations continue to fray.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to the US market, is the scheme’s largest beneficiary but its eligibility has come under scrutiny as Washington steps up criticism of Pretoria, including false allegations of discrimination against white Afrikaners that South Africa rejects.

“Congress has decided that we should be kept in AGOA. What now remains is the executive,” Ramaphosa said, referring to the pact now needing President Donald Trump’s signature after approval by Congress. “And by the way, so that I prepare our people for this, if we ever have a choice, we are not the first and only country to be taken out of AGOA.”

Meanwhile, a specialized United States resettlement initiative admitted 16,287 South Africans over the preceding year ending September 30. They were the only people granted refugee status by Washington during that period, apart from five Afghans.

The US president reviews countries’ eligibility for AGOA annually. Any removal requires 60 days’ notice to Congress and the country concerned. To take effect on 1 January, an exclusion must be announced by 2 November.

South Africa is going to look for alternative markets to minimise the impacts of such an exclusion, Ramaphosa said.

“I need as president to prepare us if it ever happens. So we should not go out and jump off tall buildings and think that this is the end of the world,” he said, conceding that the impacts would nonetheless be “devastating”.

Within AGOA, Washington exempts South African cars from customs duties. After precious metals, cars are the country’s second-biggest export earner to the US, according to the South African tax authorities. In 2025, the automobile employers’ organisation Naamsa said 86,000 jobs were directly tied to the accord at car manufacturers, a number that increases to 125,000 when including their sub-contractors.