PREVIEW
African efforts to lobby at UN meeting for extension of US trade deal were unsuccessful
The expiry of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at the end of September is another headache for African states already counting the costs of the United States’ new import duties on their goods.
A handful of African leaders, including Kenya’s President William Ruto, lobbied, unsuccessfully, for AGOA to be extended on the margins of the UN General Assembly last month. World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has played down the effects, pointing to the low levels of trade between eligible African nations and the US. Fossil fuels and textiles have been two of the main African exports under AGOA.
Meanwhile, still hoping to secure concessions from the Trump administration to avoid a 30% basic tariff line, South Africa has secured much-needed investment in its vehicle industry from Chinese firm Beijing Auto Industrial Corporation, which operates an assembly line in Gqeberha, and from India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, which makes pick-up trucks at its facility in Durban.
The Trump tariffs have hammered car exports to the US across the board. The European Commission has reported that while transatlantic trade held up in the second quarter of 2025, car exports slumped. The commission reckons that once tariffs are above 15%, trade flows suffer (AC Vol 66 No 16, Tariff calamity deepens rift with Washington).
In Pretoria, meanwhile, the government reports that US-bound car exports dropped 90% in the second quarter compared to the previous year. That has prompted warnings that the tariffs could cost up to 100,000 jobs in South Africa.
Trade Minister Parks Tau has been in talks with major car brands from Japan, Europe and the US on long-term investment plans. South Africa has been overtaken by Morocco as the main automotive producer in Africa (AC Vol 66 No 19, Parks_Tau – Ramaphosa’s trade troubleshooter).
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