Media Statement

The African National Congress (ANC) rejects the United States administration’s announced withdrawal of South Africa’s AGOA eligibility from 1 January 2027. We will not allow economic pressure to dictate our foreign policy or force us to abandon the responsibility to reverse colonial and apartheid injustices.

AGOA provides tariff preferences; its withdrawal does not close the American market or mean economic collapse.

Claims of catastrophic job losses confuse the broader United States trade relationship with exposure to AGOA preferences. Nevertheless, government must protect affected workers and industries, strengthen local production and expand alternative markets.

Land reform, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment and employment equity are democratic instruments of redress. Their gains, though incomplete, were hard won. Abandoning transformation would entrench apartheid’s economic inheritance and strip political freedom of economic substance.

We condemn campaigns by AfriForum, Solidarity and the Democratic Alliance against transformation, which have contributed to international pressure on South Africa. The announcement’s timing during special voting, alongside economic misinformation, deepens concern about attempts to intimidate voters and undermine democratic choices.

Our history of resistance, the Freedom Charter and the Constitution demand that we defend sovereignty, equality and economic justice. We honour those who sacrificed for liberation and the progressive Americans who stood against apartheid.

The ANC supports diplomacy and mutually beneficial trade with the United States. We will not surrender transformation for preferential market access. AGOA may be withdrawn; our struggle for economic emancipation will continue. We will not be bullied.

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