More than 500,000 SA jobs at risk as US trade tensions deepen

• Solidarity has warned that strained trade relations with the US are putting more than half a million South African jobs at risk
• The US is reviewing its AGOA participating countries list, with a final decision due on 1 November that could strip SA of key export benefits
• An economic researcher has warned that political tensions between the two governments will cost workers and their families dearly

More than half a million South African jobs could disappear depending on a decision expected in Washington next month. Civil society organisation Solidarity has raised the alarm over the growing risk to workers as trade ties between South Africa and the United States continue to fray.

According to reports, the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) estimates that exports to the US support around 576,000 jobs in South Africa. Roughly half of those jobs sit in sectors that directly benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a preferential trade arrangement that has long opened American markets to South African goods across industries including fruit, mining, automotives, chemicals, and steel.

In 2024 alone, South Africa exported R156.8 billion worth of goods to the US, with the agricultural sector accounting for more than R10 billion of that figure. Many rural communities depend almost entirely on these export markets to sustain local economic activity.

AGOA loss could hit rural communities hardest

Theuns Du Buisson, an economic researcher at SRI, warned that the South African government's political posture was placing vulnerable workers at unnecessary risk.

"It is easy to dismiss the importance of AGOA when your own salary does not depend on it," Du Buisson said. "But behind these exports are workers, families, and communities with few other economic opportunities."

The warning comes as the US reviews which countries will remain on the AGOA list, with the final decision set for 1 November. South Africa's strained relationship with Washington has placed its eligibility in serious doubt.

The cost of that strain is already visible. After the US introduced a general tariff, vehicle exports from South Africa to the US collapsed from 25,500 units in 2024 to just 6,500 in 2025.

Diplomatic tensions threaten trade future

Relations between the two countries have worsened steadily, driven by South Africa's close ties with Iran, Russia, and China, as well as domestic policies such as Black Economic Empowerment and land expropriation without compensation, which Washington has publicly criticised.

US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III recently stated that the US had run out of patience with South Africa on these issues. International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola responded by telling Bozell to "get out the kitchen" if he was unwilling to continue dialogue. Solidarity believes statements of that nature will only deepen the rift.

Du Buisson put the stakes plainly:

"One in every 30 households benefit from exports to the US. For many of these exports, there is no other market that can replace the US market."

Solidarity has spent four years submitting research to American forums on AGOA's importance, and has proposed phasing out race-based policies by 2030 while introducing non-racial alternatives to ownership requirements, presenting these ideas to both governments.

More on South Africa-US relations

• Briefly News recently reported that the US plans a $335,000 campaign to encourage more Afrikaners in South Africa to apply for refugee status.
• An American living in South Africa praised several Mzansi habits she believes the US should adopt, with her TikTok drawing plenty of reactions.
• A Johannesburg TikToker called out Americans after they objected to South Africans using “SA” as an abbreviation for their country.

Source: Briefly News

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