Parliament – South Africa is set to make its case for why it should continue to receive preferential duty free access to US markets under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) on Friday during public hearings in Washington DC, Parliament’s trade and industry committee heard on Tuesday.
“The South African government will certainly be making written and oral statements at that hearing,” Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said while briefing MPs on the status of the country’s inclusion in Agoa.
The US Congress extended Agoa, an agreement which gives sub-Saharan African countries duty free access to US markets for certain products, in June this year.
In July, the US Trade Representative published a notice in the federal register for an out-of-cycle review for South Africa to determine whether it was eligible to be included in Agoa.
Davies told MPs that government, as well as representatives from local industries who benefit from Agoa, including the auto-manufacturing and citrus sectors, would make submissions at Friday’s meetings.
Five reasons would be put forward by government why South Africa remains eligible for inclusion in Agoa. These include that Agoa was a “win-win” for both South Africa and the US who had benefitted through an increase in value-added trade between two countries, and an even trade balance which stood at around R70 billion each way.
Government would argue that excluding South Africa from the prefential trade policy would reduce the benefits of Agoa for sub-Saharan Africa.
“Agoa has supported the creation of regional integration on the continent,” Davies said.
“The removal of South Africa will reduce the benefits of Agoa for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. It will create a hole in Agoa if we are taken out of it.”
In addition, Agoa has helped with job creation initiatives in South Africa – most notably in the automotive and citrus industries. Removing the country, could cost many jobs, Davies added.
ANA