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Washington`s increasingly bellicose stance had also been reflected in the series of demands it had made in its trade negotiations with Pretoria. In addition to the chicken export dispute, the U.S. has pushed for the repeal of the Act to amend the Regulation of the Private Security Industry Regulations. The bill required foreign security companies to sell at least 51 percent of their domestic operations to South Africans. The United States is now one of South Africa`s most important trading partners in the world, and bilateral trade relations have maintained a steady pattern of expansion since 1994. In 2001, the United States was South Africa`s largest retail partner in the world. According to the United States Department of Commerce, total bilateral trade in 2001 was about $7.25 billion, with South Africa recording a healthy trade surplus of about $1.6 billion. This figure includes the privileges of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), estimated at about $1 billion. AGOA provides non-reciprocal business benefits and opportunities for eligible sub-Saharan African countries for a period of eight (8) years. The United States is currently an export destination for between 12 and 15 percent of all South African exports. Currently, the two countries are committed to the international promotion of human rights, the promotion of international trade, the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the elimination of illicit drug trafficking, among other things. South Africa and the United States also share a confluence of values in key areas such as democracy, the rule of law, good governance and the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. In 2003, the two countries failed to reach a mutually reprimanded trade agreement.
The UNITED States has also been shaken by China`s rise as a formidable competitor. The United States has used trade as a tool to reaffirm its position as an exceptional global economic power. The Trump administration`s crippling trade war with Beijing must be seen in this context. U.S. President Joe Biden`s administration launched the Prosper Africa Build Together initiative by requesting $80 million from Congress to boost trade and investment between the United States and Africa. Despite vehement lobbying by chicken farmers against South Africa`s inclusion in a renewed AGOA deal, the U.S. Senate has approved a bill that extends AGOA by 10 years, including South Africa. In return, South Africa agreed to allow 65,000 tonnes of poultry imports from the United States. South Africa`s exclusion from the new AGOA exemption could have hurt the country`s trade. Earlier this year, the Trump administration revived this historic stance on South Africa, stripping the country of “developing country” status. This followed a similar DECISION by the United States concerning China and India. This means that these countries will no longer benefit from the preferential trade treatment accorded to poor countries.
A Biden victory is unlikely to deviate from the path set by the current administration. Trade is one of the few areas where there is still strong support between the parties. When President Bill Clinton signed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000, African countries gained a competitive advantage by allowing unilateral duty-free exports of 6,500 products from Africa to the United States. Twenty years after agoa was first adopted, we see that it has created long-term sustainable growth by boosting the private sector and creating jobs in a region where many countries are struggling with high unemployment, thus addressing the region`s structural challenges. In addition, by choosing a regional approach to the trade deal, Clinton strengthened both large players such as South Africa and small players such as Lesotho. In many ways, this approach is consistent with the mantra of “trade instead of aid.” A trade deal with the United States could help both Kenya and its east African community neighbors by promoting the development of regional value chains, a former U.S. trade official told Inside U.S. Trade. “I think it would be really fascinating if we continued with this free trade agreement between the United States and Kenya to see what will be possible not only for Kenya, but also for other African countries. President Donald J.
Trump announced today that the United States intends to begin negotiations on a trade agreement with the Republic of Kenya following a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the White House. “Kenya is a recognized leader across the continent, a key strategic partner of the United States, and there is huge potential for us to deepen. The United States disagrees with the Mandela government on its ties with Cuba, Libya and Palestine; The advantage of preferential trade agreements is that they can lead to lasting structural changes. After 18 years of A utility, a calculable analysis of the overall balance conducted by the World Bank in 2018 showed that ending AGOA by 2020 would result in a 1% loss of revenue and a 16% drop in textiles and clothing. However, the simulations also showed that trade facilitation measures that reduce average trading costs by 2% per year would eliminate the negative effects on revenues resulting from the elimination of AGOA. The protection of the nascent industry offered by AGOA has allowed the industry to grow and prosper, so reducing trading costs by just 2% would allow Lesotho to maintain its competitiveness. Worldwide, there is duty-free trade between South Africa and the other four countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and eSwatini) that make up the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). .
