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People work in a chicken processing plant.
University of Johannesburg’s Director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies David Monyae says the newly imposed tariffs on South Africa by the United States points to the death of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
US President Donald Trump last week imposed a 31% duty on all goods imported from South Africa.
AGOA allows Sub-Saharan countries preferential trade with the US.
Monyae says Trump’s newly imposed tariffs mark the end of this agreement.
“He has been anti-globalization overall – believing that the US can somehow force other countries to do what they want and in a way giving the US an upper hand in trade and so many other areas. We are at the receiving end. So, it’s not just economic, it’s also political. In our case the demands that are being made on SA from the US has huge implications in terms of South Africa’s foreign policy and now trade, with AGOA being the key issue. With these tariffs, this is the death of AGOA as we know it.”
