Minister of trade, industry and competition Parks Tau said while people in the US Congress were keen to assure South Africa that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) will be reauthorised, the jury is out on whether this will happen before the US presidential election in November.
The Agoa is an act of the US Congress which allows duty-free access to products between the US and some African states and their respective markets.
Tau led a South African delegation to the US last week. It attended the Agoa Forum to make the case for its early reauthorisation before the presidential election.
Briefing reporters in parliament on Tuesday morning, Tau said the delegation set the right tone when unpacking the government of national unity to the Americans, securing bipartisan support for Agoas reauthorisation and South Africas continued participation.
We received strong bipartisan backing from the US Congress and our colleagues in the US administration for the reauthorisation of Agoa. The mutually beneficial economic and trade partnership is highlighted by more than 600 US businesses operating in South African and with more than 1.3-million jobs created in sub-Saharan Africa, he said.
