A key US congressional committee will consider a three-year extension on Wednesday of the African Growth and Opportunity Act Agoa, the cornerstone of US trade policy towards sub-Saharan Africa.
But South Africa is increasingly likely to be left out amid escalating bilateral tensions with the Trump administration.
Reuters reports that the House Ways and Means Committee meeting marks the furthest Congress has advanced towards renewing the duty-free trade programme, which lapsed on September 30 after 25 years and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the continent.
