US urges visiting South Africa business leaders to balance trade

REPAIRING the fractured relationship between South Africa and the US hinges on balanced trade, according to business leaders who met with American politicians in Washington.

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That would mean surpassing South Africa's trade surplus with the US of more than $4 billion (R72bn), mainly from its exports of cars and agricultural products, said Cas Coovadia from Business Unity South Africa (Busa). Inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act - which allows duty-free access for many goods into the world's largest market - may end, he said.

“There was a sense that it's a freebie and there's not something back for America,” Kotze, the head of AgriSA, said. The perception of Agoa by US politicians and members of Congress is that they see “reciprocal trade is, for America, a big thing.”

Kotze said to identify which US politicians the group met, other than to say they were from both the Republican and Democratic parties.