Trump gives Zuma a call
US President Donald Trump made his first official telephone call to President Jacob Zuma on Monday afternoon.
While the details of the conversation were not released, there are fears Trump will repeal the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) from which SA is a beneficiary.
Concerns have been raised about the future of Agoa under Trump. Agoa gives special treatment to 39 African countries by waiving import levies on more than 7,000 wide-ranging products. During his campaign, the US president made it clear he wanted to protect US domestic business and manufacturing from threats abroad.
Analysts suggested that this could mean added import duties on South African exports to the US. Trump’s foreign policy on Africa has not been clearly defined, with many observers suggesting that the continent is likely to slide down his list of foreign policy priorities.
“President Zuma congratulated President Trump on his election as the 45th president of the USA. The two presidents
reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the already strong bilateral relations between the two countries,” the Presidency said in a statement on Monday.
There are 600 US companies in SA.
The two presidents had also discussed the need to work together on multilateral issues as well and, especially, the quest for peace and stability on the African continent.
Last month, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration was looking at retreating from its development and humanitarian goals, while at the same time trying to push forward business opportunities across the continent.
The paper said the Trump administration was sceptical about the value of foreign aid and also about US security interests in Africa. It quoted a four-page list of Africa-related questions from Trump’s transition staff. “How does US business compete with other nations in Africa? Are we losing out to the Chinese?” are some of the first questions in the document.
“With so much corruption in Africa, how much of our funding is stolen? Why should we spend these funds on Africa when we are suffering here in the US?” are some of the other questions.
Trump, who was inaugurated in January, was also expected to call Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday. Nigeria and SA are the leading economies on the continent.
Political analyst Daniel Silke said on Monday it was too early to say what the future of Agoa would be. He said it was very likely that the Trump administration would pursue bilateral trade relations rather than deal with trading blocs.
The US would deal with nations it saw as “friendly and beneficial to America”.
The teleconference between Zuma and Trump showed that the “lines of communication are open”, Silke said.
“It is part of new administration simply making essential and necessary contact with important countries and leaders. It is also about Trump introducing himself to these leaders.”
The US embassy in Pretoria said it would comment after details of the teleconference became available.