South Africa pressed the US to reauthorise Agoa before its November elections. It's also lobbying hard against US legislation calling for a comprehensive review of US-SA relations.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau is confident that the US will allow South Africa to continue participating in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) and that the US will reauthorise this preferential trade measure as a whole before it expires next year.

Tau was addressing a press conference in Cape Town after his return from the 2024 Agoa Forum in Washington. When he was in the US capital he urged members of the Biden administration and of Congress not to remove South Africa from the programme, which gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for most exports.

Some members of Congress had threatened to kick SA out of Agoa because of its perceived friendships with the US's enemies, Russia, China and Iran.

"We received bipartisan support for the reauthorisation of Agoa... We're confident that Agoa would continue and that South Africa would stay in Agoa," said Tau.

He said his delegation, which included Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield, had met a wide range of officials as well as members of Congress from both parties and business leaders.

Legislation which had originally suggested South Africa's possible exclusion had been withdrawn "and there's no Agoa resolution...