Loss of AGOA benefits could wipe out jobs across entire communities

ANC political manoeuvring is putting more than half a million South African jobs supported by exports to the United States (US), along with our country’s AGOA benefits, at risk.

Solidarity warns that weakening trade relations with the US and the looming loss of these benefits will hurt the fruit, mining, automotive, chemical and steel industries, and hit vulnerable rural communities particularly hard.

According to the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), exports to the US support approximately 576,000 South African jobs. Around half of these workers are in sectors that benefit from favourable export conditions under the United States African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The loss of these benefits will weaken businesses’ competitiveness and threaten orders, export revenues and job security.

In 2024, South Africa exported goods worth R156.8 billion to the US. The agricultural sector alone exported products worth more than R10 billion to this market. In many agricultural communities, farming for the export market is the main economic activity, with local businesses dependent on it. The consequences of lost export opportunities will therefore extend far beyond the farm gate.

The impact of tariffs is already evident in the automotive industry. After a general tariff was introduced last year, only 6,500 vehicles were exported to the US in 2025, compared with 25,500 in 2024. Exposing other industries to tariffs will have the same devastating effect.

“It is easy to dismiss the importance of AGOA when your own salary does not depend on it. But behind these exports are workers, families and communities with few other economic opportunities. “They cannot afford for the government to put their future at risk through political obstinacy,” says Theuns du Buisson, economic researcher at the SRI.

Solidarity has been engaging with the US government on this issue for the past four years and has repeatedly submitted research to various forums on the importance of AGOA.

Solidarity’s first AGOA report was submitted to the Biden administration in 2023, when both Republicans and Democrats began seriously discussing scaling back relations with South Africa.

“Many people underestimate AGOA because it accounts for a relatively small share of our total exports. However, it is foolish to dismiss the benefits without considering which industries and communities benefit from them and what they will lose if these benefits are lost,” says Du Buisson.

“Our first report and the follow-up reports show that it is precisely vulnerable rural communities that benefit significantly, particularly through the fruit industry and certain mining operations.

“Where there are already few other employment opportunities, the loss of export revenues can undermine an entire community’s livelihood,” he says.

According to Du Buisson, the automotive, chemical and steel industries also benefit from AGOA. The benefits of AGOA therefore help protect the livelihoods of vulnerable communities as well as South Africa’s position in the technological value chain.

“One in every 30 households benefits from exports to the US. That represents more than half a million South African jobs. For many of these exports, there is no other market that can replace the US market.

“For the sake of South Africans’ jobs, we must now do everything in our power to keep relations with the US positive,” he says.

According to Du Buisson, the US accounts for 27% of the world’s consumer market.

“No country can maintain a thriving export economy without good relations with the US. That is why Solidarity continues to advocate for trade ties that work in the interests of South Africa and its people,” he says.

According to Solidarity, South Africa cannot sacrifice trade benefits that have been built up over two decades for the sake of the arrogance of ANC politicians.

Workers and their families will ultimately pay the price for the government’s failure to restore trade relations and for statements such as those recently made by Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

As part of its campaign to retain AGOA benefits, Solidarity has submitted settlement proposals concerning South Africa’s race-based policies to the US and South African governments.

The proposals include, among other things, phasing out the race-based policies by 2030 and introducing non-racial alternatives to ownership requirements.

According to Solidarity, this provides a workable basis for resolving a crucial point of contention between the two governments and protecting South Africans’ jobs and export opportunities.