The outgoing Biden-Harris administration has renewed South Africa’s eligibility for trade benefits through the end of the next fiscal year, despite South Africa’s moral support for Palestinian terrorism and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
U.S. Trade Representative Sam Michel, a former press secretary for the Biden campaign in liberal Minnesota, decided Monday that South Africa could retain its eligibility for preferential trade with the U.S. under a law called the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which aims to help developing African economies.
South African observers worried that the country’s aggressive advocacy for the Palestinian cause — such as filing a claim of “genocide” against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague — in the wake of the October 7, 2023, terror attack might hurt its standing.
South Africa’s ruling party has met with Hamas leaders, and President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged his support for the Palestinian cause just days after the October 7 attack, even suggesting Israel had no right to exist.
South Africa has also been partial towards Russia in its war against Ukraine, a residual effect of the Cold War partnership between the Soviet Union and South Africa’s main governing party, the African National Congress. Moreover, South Africa has deepened its ties with China, which is expanding its influence across the African continent.
Nevertheless, there will be no consequences for acting against U.S. interests in foreign policy: South Africa will continue to enjoy access to AGOA benefits, at least into next year. AGOA itself expires at the end of the fiscal year in September; South African leaders are openly worried that President-elect Donald Trump might not renew the law.
As Breitbart News has noted, this gives Trump leverage to demand change in South Africa’s policies. In the meantime, the Biden-Harris administration is doing what it can to lock in its policies on its way out the door, including in the area of trade. The incoming Trump administration is certain to take a different approach that stresses reciprocity.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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