South Africa’s AGOA Deadline Puts Africa’s Export Zones on Alert

FTZ News: South Africa could lose its place in the African Growth and Opportunity Act effective January 1 if the White House issues the required notice by about November 2.

Congress extended the program to the end of 2028 in September. The extension does not lock any country in. The president still reviews eligibility each year and can drop a beneficiary with 60 days’ notice to Congress and the country. For any removal to take effect on January 1, that notice has to go out by roughly November 2. A later notice would still allow exclusion, but the earliest start date would fall after January.

South Africa sent roughly $16.5 billion in goods to the United States last year. Two-way trade in goods and services hit about $28.8 billion. Only a portion of the South African shipments actually use the AGOA duty-free rates. Autos, agriculture and some industrial goods rely on them more than the rest of the trade does.

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA has told Pretoria the window is closing. Its president, Neil Diamond, said the government needs to engage Washington now rather than wait. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has previously called South Africa a unique problem in the program.

No formal notice has gone out yet. Exporters in both countries are watching the calendar.

Several African countries have used AGOA preferences inside special economic zones and free zones that export to the U.S. market. Apparel, auto parts and agricultural processing lines in those zones have been among the main beneficiaries. A change in South Africa’s status would not automatically alter zone rules in other countries, but it would remove one large source of duty-free volume from the program and could shift orders among remaining eligible exporters./.