OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.30am.
AS President Thabo Mbeki arrives in the United States for a combined state visit and a trade and investment roadshow, data released in the US has raised concerns that US firms may be loosing market share in South Africa.
The Business Day reports that South Africa ran a record 241,6-million trade surplus with the US in the first quarter. The figures show imports of US goods are stagnant and the value of exports to the US $102-million or 14% higher than the same period a year ago.
Surplus is calculated as the difference between South African exports to the US and US exports to this country.
Analysts say the recent trade deal between South Africa and the European Union is to blame for the drop in US imports.
The paper reports that US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky has asked the US International Trade Commission, an independent government advisory body, for a confidential study of the “potential trade diversionary effects” of the SA-EU pact as background for “likely consultations and negotiations on this issue”.
It says while the surplus may be somewhat negated by South African Airways’s new orders of Boeing aircraft, local exports to the US stand to be boosted further by the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which was signed into law last week.
The act authorises the trade representative to remove tariffs from a range South African exports previously not eligible for benefits under the US generalised system of preferences, as well as extending duty-free treatment to South African apparel made with African or certain high-end imported yarn and fabric.
Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin as well as 20 private-sector representatives are accompanying Mbeki. They are expected to be briefed on the potential obstacles and benefits opened up by he act.