Author: Quinz Atdah Qeqe (South Africa)
Left To Right: South African Deputy Minister Of Trade, Industry And Competition Andrew Whitfield, US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, And South African Minister Of Trade, Industry And Competition Parks Tau At The 21st AGOA Forum Held In Washington DC.
Photo From: Twitter
SUMMARY
South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition(TIC) Parks Tau has in recent weeks engaged in a diplomatic mission to the United States(US) to consolidate South Africa(SA) bilateral trade relations with the US, this amidst the call by US Republican legislative for the Biden Administration to review the African Growth and Opportunity Act(AGOA) in relation to South Africa’s future eligibility under this US Act (iAfrica, 2024). The call for review of South Africa’s eligibility to AGOA by the Republican legislative comes at the backdrop of intense scrutiny of South Africa’s foreign policy stance in numerous geopolitical matters which has been tabled by the legislative as a possible breach of South Africa’s AGOA eligibility, on the premise of US national security and foreign policy interests being threatened (Naumann, 2023). For these reasons numerous Republican legislative officials have called for South Africa to be excluded as a possible AGOA beneficiary state. The result of South Africa’s possible in-eligibility under AGOA has been perceived by economic analysts as potentially having a costly impact on South Africa’s export goods traders.
REFERENCES
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