US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington intends to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with South Africa as the largest beneficiary, exporting about 1.7 billion dollars in goods in 2025, citing barriers to US trade and investment, corruption and threats to US national security and foreign policy interests, as well as South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice — the South African government said it had received 60 days’ advance notice of the withdrawal of benefits effective January 1, 2027, with Trade Minister Parks Tau saying the decision does not define the broader relationship between the two countries and that a solution will depend on both sides’ willingness to engage, and that about 10% of exports to the US entered under AGOA in 2025, down from 28% in 2024.