By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, October 24 (Radarr Africa) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the country must prepare for possible exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the US duty-free trade programme, even as new figures show trade with China growing quickly since Beijing opened its market to qualifying African goods.
Speaking on Monday, October 19, Ramaphosa said it was unclear whether South Africa would stay in AGOA and that his government was in talks with US counterparts, Reuters reported. Some US officials have suggested South Africa should be excluded, the report said. “I need, as president, to prepare us if it ever happens,” he said.
AGOA gives eligible African countries tariff-free access to the US market for thousands of products, and South Africa has used it for years. The Trump administration has cracked down on South Africa, with President Donald Trump claiming the country persecutes white people. The South African government calls that claim a falsehood spread by fringe groups.
Reuters reported that Ramaphosa said the impact on jobs of losing AGOA would be devastating. He and Deputy President Paul Mashatile have travelled internationally to find alternative markets. Ramaphosa called a recent trade agreement with China a positive step. China introduced a zero-tariff scheme for qualifying South African goods in May 2026.
A second Reuters report, from Pretoria on Thursday, October 22, put figures on that shift. Between May and August, South Africa’s exports to China rose nearly 25 per cent year on year, and its imports from China rose 23 per cent, according to Chinese Ambassador Wu Peng. China is South Africa’s largest trading partner.
In 2025, South Africa exported about 222 billion rand ($13.5 billion) of goods to China and imported nearly twice that amount, according to Trade Minister Parks Tau. South African exports to China include agricultural products, minerals and manufactured goods.
Speaking at an event in Pretoria, Wu said he was confident that “more and more South African high value-added products will enter the Chinese market” in future. He also said he had heard South Africa’s demand to balance trade.
Increasing exports to China is part of South Africa’s effort to develop new markets as its relationship with the United States worsens and as it faces potential US trade barriers, Reuters said. The US has extended AGOA until 2028, but South Africa risks exclusion because the Trump administration has objected to several of its domestic and foreign policies.
Tau expects an announcement in early November on whether South Africa will be removed from the programme. He said he remained “cautiously optimistic” about the decision.
