Agriculture minister and DA leader John Steenhuisen is confident the South African delegation led by President Cyril Ramaphosa will be able to convince US President Donald Trump not to cancel the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Steenhuisen told TimesLIVE hours before their scheduled meeting with Trump at the White House that South Africa will push for the US to keep the legislation that aids qualifying sub-Saharan African countries to have market access to the US, including the agricultural sector.
“I believe with enough drive and determination we can expand access and improve relations and this means greater opportunities for South African farmers and farmworkers and for our economy to grow.
“We believe there remains hope for Agoa as it is negotiating with Congress and the appetite remains there for Agoa to continue in some form. We will push hard to retain this.”
Steenhuisen will be part of the South African delegation led by Ramaphosa that will meet Trump and his administration to iron out issues that have led to the diplomatic fallout between the two countries.
TimesLIVE Premium reported the delegation of four ministers will be joined by South African business mogul billionaire Johann Rupert as well as golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
This team will have a private lunch with Trump in a closed session where issues such as the Expropriation Act, black economic empowerment, the International Court of Justice case against Israel and Elon Musk’s Starlink are expected to take centre stage.
The delegation will also present a trade investment package to the US expected to run into billions of dollars.
“The attitude has been a constructive one; the new administration is firm on their intentions to rebalance trade and they have made that clear,” said Steenhuisen.
The US remained one of South Africa’s key trading and investment partners with more than 22 South African companies operating in the US while there are more than 900 US companies operating in South Africa.
This made it vital for the two countries to maintain a strong relationship.
“South Africa has come to the US with a serious commitment to improve mutually beneficial trade and investment relations and that seriousness is demonstrated by the delegation and the framework deal we are putting on the table,” said Steenhuisen.
“South Africa is an important supplier of critical minerals and good quality agriculture products. The counter-seasonal production allows for greater expansion of bilateral trade in agri products and we are looking for greater market access on products not produced in the US such as mangoes, lychees and avocados.”
The Presidency released a schedule for the talks which will include lunch between the two heads of state. The meeting is scheduled to start at 5.30pm (SA time) when Trump will welcome Ramaphosa to the White House. Ramaphosa will sign the visitors' book before the lunch.
A bilateral meeting of the two heads of state will then include the media at 6.45pm with Ramaphosa expected to leave the White House 15 minutes later.
TimesLIVE
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