JOHANNESBURG – Leading Republicans are already pressuring the incoming Trump administration to lock South Africa out of the lucrative trade arrangement should the South African government not change its stance on Russia, China, Iran and Israel.
Most at risk is South Africa’s duty-free exports of goods such as cars and citrus fruits to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – and the potential loss of thousands of African jobs. South Africa is likely to come under close scrutiny from the incoming administration.
A publication by Howard University’s Center for African Studies in 2023 warned that a country seeking AGOA preferential trade agreements “cannot act in a manner that undermines U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.”
South Africa has joined exercises with Russian military aircraft and naval ships, allowing naval bases in Pretoria to be used by Kremlin-sanctioned warships. Senior South African military officers have received training in Moscow. South Africa has refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine at the United Nations.
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President-elect Trump. (Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images)
South Africa’s majority ANC party has sided with the terrorist group Hamas, and recently a branch of the ANC supported a local Muslim leader who reportedly shouted to a cheering crowd, “I am Hamas, Cape The town is Hamas, viva Hamas!” The government also issued a statement this year condemning the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The country’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola spoke out against the “killing” of the designated terrorist leader, saying “such acts of extrajudicial killings violate international law.”
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
South Africa’s largest trading partner is China, with both countries being founding members of the BRICS trade organization. South Africa has now welcomed the inclusion of Iran in BRICS. There have been allegations of deep relations between Tehran and Pretoria.
From left: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin appear during the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 23. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“Given South Africa’s position on the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, South Africa is moving away from the US position in many ways, particularly in its vigorous pursuit of Israel and its leaders in international courts,” J. Brooks Specter told Fox News Digital.
Specter, a former US diplomat now based in Johannesburg, and deputy editor of the respected Daily Maverick, said that “continued actions and rhetoric by South Africa in pursuing Israel in international court efforts, however, embolden Republicans in Congress. will (and perhaps even in the administration) to deny South Africa benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, assuming the Act is renewed next year.”
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“Such efforts by the South African government could also lead to efforts to cut aid to critical efforts such as PEPFAR – the aid program that, in collaboration with the Global Fund and local organizations, builds on the country’s successful efforts to combat HIV and AIDS,” he said.
One such prominent Republican, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital, “I am concerned about South Africa’s efforts to cozy up to Russia, China and Iran. The country’s foreign policy actions will be the focus of my oversight efforts.”
Naledi Pandor, former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, meet in Tehran on October 22, 2023. (Haydar Sahin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and member of the Senate Finance Committee, criticized South Africa in 2023: “South Africa has sheltered sanctioned Russian vessels, with Iran “has expanded ties and issued statements against Israel’s right to defend itself following recent terrorist attacks by Hamas.”
Both of these influential Republican leaders are expected to become even more powerful when President-elect Trump takes office in January, with Scott’s office staff telling Fox News Digital, “Senator Scott looks forward to working with the Trump Administration to To ensure that there are no AGOA participants.” Undermining our national security interests.”
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal at a rally in his honor in Cape Town. South Africa, on 21 October 2015. (Roger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images)
South Africa’s moves are certainly under very bright headlines in Washington. From inside the Beltway, Richard Goldberg told Fox News Digital that he is particularly concerned about potential ties between South Africa and Iran. Goldberg is a former member of the National Security Council and a senior advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “The first step is to frame the case publicly, and give South Africa one last chance to choose,” he told Fox News Digital. Intelligence information about should be made public.”
Goldberg added, “And then we need to use our full diplomatic and economic weight to force Pretoria to choose between the United States and our terrorist adversaries.” One of many items on the AGOA policy menu Should be.”
South Africa’s Department of International Relations did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but COSATU parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parkes did. COSATU is the South African confederation of trade unions, historically associated with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC party. Parks is highly respected for her meaningful and respectful pursuit of workers’ rights. If South Africa is kicked out of the AGOA, its members have much to lose, potentially including their jobs. But he sounded cautiously optimistic when speaking to Fox News Digital. “We are confident that our relations with the United States will continue to grow, including through AGOA, as it is to the benefit of both our peoples,” he said.
Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former President Trump appear during a Fox News Channel town hall on February 20 in Greenville, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
“We have been engaged in a large-scale engagement between South Africa and the United States on how to deepen our relationship and renew the AGOA,” Parks added. “We have worked extensively with the American labor movement, the business community, Congress (both Republican and Democrat), the State Department, the Department of Labor, the NSC, and our partners in the White House.”
As Trump enters the White House, Ibrahim Rasool will begin his second term as South African Ambassador to the US. This month he spoke to Daily Maverick about South Africa’s challenges with the new administration, citing South Africa’s attacks on Israel. ICJ. “We will stick to the case, but now we must trust our legal team,” he said, “trust the evidence we have presented to the ICJ judges, trust the ICJ judges that no “There will be sustainable conclusions.” “A reasonable solution – but we have to put away the megaphone now.”
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Senator Jim Risch, R-Idaho, looks on during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 26, 2022. (Bonnie Cash-Poole/Getty Images)
Rasool explained that South African oranges exported to the US under AGOA enabled Americans to drink orange juice year-round, when Florida and California oranges were not in season.
Rasool said, “Why would you want to punish America with expensive cars when BMWs coming from South Africa would be much cheaper than getting them from Germany or building your own?
“Similarly, to state that American cancer patients are receiving medical nuclear isotopes that come from South Africa.”
Renai Muthilal, CEO of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers, wrote in the Business Day newspaper last year that South Africa’s expulsion from AGOA would be “disastrous”. “It would be no surprise if some component manufacturers close their doors. If there are volume losses associated with our boycott from AGOA, or if other forms of political pressure are to be endured, U.S.-headquartered multinationals with plants here “Manufacturers may pull out of the South African country.”
Observers say strong threats are coming from President-elect Trump himself, including the claim that if, as a member of BRICS, he would impose 100% import tariffs on countries like South Africa, he would depreciate against the dollar. Will adopt new currency. In the other corner of the ring, South African politicians are adopting a more peaceful and measured tone. The Democratic Alliance or DA is the main opposition party of South Africa. But since May, he has also been a member of the national unity government, working in a sometimes fractious coalition with President Ramaphosa’s ANC.
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The Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov is seen moored in Cape Town harbor on February 14, 2023, en route to naval exercises with the South African and Chinese navies. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
Emma Powell, the DA’s national spokeswoman for foreign affairs, told Fox News Digital that it was likely the relationship between Pretoria and Washington would become “increasingly transactional, with a greater emphasis on equitable reciprocity. This benefits-based investment There will also be less tolerance on the part of the South African government for any actions that could be perceived as undermining the national security interests of the United States.”
Powell said that “the Trump administration is also likely to take a more cautious stance on AGOA eligibility.”
Specter told Fox News Digital that he could take home a strong positive: “The incoming U.S. President’s often expressed support for transactional foreign economic policies could potentially be an encouragement to countries in Africa – Urged by South Africa – to come together with an initiative offering trade market concessions from Africa to the Americas.”
