Defying the weaponisation of trade

Syria has long been subjected to the weaponisation of trade due to the illegal imposition of sanctions by the USA and its allies. For the past few months, South Africa has been exposed to yet another form of this unilateral coercive measure. The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is being reviewed, and the USA is threatening that SA either side with Ukraine in its conflict with Russia or face exclusion.

The AGOA is an Act of the US Congress providing non-reciprocal trade preferences for eligible African countries. Non-reciprocal trade preferences are reductions or eliminations of customs tariffs that are granted without requiring beneficiary countries to give any tariff reductions or removals in return. AGOA preferences remove duties on around 1,800 tariff lines. This is in addition to reductions or elimination of duties on a further 3,400 lines under the USA’s General System of Preferences (GSP), applying to all developing countries that are members of the World Trade Organisation.

South Africa was included in AGOA in 2000 and again after its renewal in 2015. In 2015 members of Congress and the Obama administration sought additional access to the SA market for a range of agricultural and industrial products in return for continued access to AGOA benefits. Consequently, SA made concessions on poultry, pork and beef.

According to Dr Rob Davies, SA’s former Minister of Trade and Industry (DTI), ‘The value of AGOA to SA lies in the fact that it allows the duty-free entry (without reciprocation) of a number of value-added products – vehicles being the most significant – primary commodities are duty free anyway. A DTI study in the middle of the 2010s estimated the overall contribution of AGOA and GSP to total SA manufacturing GDP and employment in 2010 was 2.78% and 11%, respectively.’

Hence, he argues that AGOA is something South Africa should not be reckless about. However, he also states that it is not something SA should hold on to at any cost. In this regard he was referring to the importance of South Africa protecting its foreign policy sovereignty.

The USA has been trying to force South Africa to shift from its non-aligned position since Russia decided to militarily defend the people of the Donbas region, as well as to water down its commitment to the ‘Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa’ (BRICS) cooperation pact. The USA made a huge public noise, accompanied by several threats, to try and prevent South Africa from conducting its long-standing practice of joint local military exercises with Russia. It has successfully manipulated the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against President Putin to compel South Africa to arrest him when he attends the BRICS Summit in August this year. On 11 May 2023, US Ambassador Reuben Brigety alleged that South Africa bridged its non-aligned position by clandestinely selling arms to Russia. Furthermore, on 9 June 2023, Senate and House Foreign Affairs Committee members wrote to Anthony Blinken, imploring him to disallow South Africa from hosting the AGOA Forum this year and to review its eligibility for inclusion in the Act’s benefits.

This has led to a media frenzy in South Africa, with an almost daily portrayal of the governing party as reckless. The media hype fuels the perception created in the letter to Blinken that misleadingly states, ‘Our concerns are shared by many South African citizens and businesses, who are increasingly vocal about deteriorating conditions in the country.’

The blatant interference by the USA in South Africa’s domestic affairs is demonstrated by its close relationship with the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen. He visited Ukraine in May 2022 as a gesture of support. He has exploited the allegations of weapons sales (while not disclosing that the supposed ‘sale’ happened from a naval base in the Western Cape, a province controlled by the DA). He threatened to arrest President Putin should he come to South Africa, in a bid to ingratiate himself with the West. And he has been hyping up the impact of South Africa’s possible exclusion from AGOA, carrying out the instructions received from his recent visits to the USA.

South Africa, however, will remain steadfast despite the many threats. It is committed to a transformed, non-aligned, fair, multipolar world order. Furthermore, it believes that only negotiations can resolve the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine. The impact of the crisis is affecting the world at large and Africa in particular. For this reason, South Africa is part of the current African peace mission to the two countries. In this era of poverty, hunger and natural disasters, principled, just peace is preferred over war.

Reneva Fourie is an analyst focusing on governance, development and security. She is also a Central Committee and Politburo member of the South African Communist Party.

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