Ramaphosa said the country would take into account the interests of sister countries on the continent when engaging with the US on trade agreements.
This as fears remain about the future of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is due for reauthorisation in September 2025.
Ramaphosa spoke to South African and US media in Washington following a meeting held with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
Although the ambush tactics by Trump during the meeting regarding allegations of ‘white genocide’ dominated most headlines, the discussions also touched on issues relating to safety and security, geopolitics, the G20, and trade and investment.
Ramaphosa said he could confirm there would be continued engagement between South African and US officials on a “package of issues that we have tabled” relating to trade and investment.
“Our objective in coming here was to reset relations between the two countries and to reposition our relations that had become contaminated,” Ramaphosa said.
The delegation to the US also included Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau. Ramaphosa said Tau would lead discussions on the future of AGOA with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
“We would like to see ourselves continuing with AGOA, which really is about [creating] prosperity for our continent,” Ramaphosa said.
He said US officials had acknowledged there were 32 African countries participating in AGOA. In response to rumours that South Africa had brought an alternative deal to the table in case there was no future for AGOA, Ramaphosa told journalists that South Africa was not in it alone.
“We always want the entire continent to prosper and take into account that what we do should include advancing the interests of our sister countries on the continent. When we do settle down to talk about, for instance tariffs, we are part of the Southern African Customs Union, so we will be talking about tariffs in that broader context.”
Ramaphosa emphasised that as one of the three big economies of Africa (the others being Egypt and Nigeria), South Africa’s general orientation had always been about prospering together with other countries.
Tau meanwhile said he, Steenhuisen and their teams had met with the office of the US Trade Representative on Monday.
“We submitted a proposal to the US with regards to a framework agreement focusing in particular on issues related to trade and investment,” he said.
This proposal had been revised based on feedback and resubmitted later in the week for consideration. It comprised several sections dealing with issues relating to the G20, pursuance of increased trade agreements between the US and South Africa – with LP gas used as a specific example – and issues relating to AGOA, among others.
Feedback from US officials was that the AGOA matter was currently before Congress.
Ramaphosa repeatedly emphasised the need for increased investment.
“We harped on that. We require more investments from the US and we require a more positive disposition from the US,” he said.
He highlighted the manner in which the regulatory framework could be adapted to unlock foreign direct investment through tools like equity equivalence provisions instead of BEE.
“We want foreign direct investment. We want to keep the jobs we have that have been created by US companies and we want more US companies to come and invest,” he said.
