The first round of talks on a free trade treaty between the Southern African Customs Union and the United States got underway in Pretoria on Monday.
South Africa’s trade and industry department said the negotiations would continue until Thursday.
”(They) mark the first round in a two-year process to exchange reciprocal offers to phase out tariffs on a broad range of tariffs.”
The department said a free trade agreement would bring market access for exports from southern Africa and should promote investment into the region. Sacu comprises South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
Monday’s talks come about 10 days after Sacu’s opening negotiations with the European Free Trade Association on a similar deal.
The department said Sacu saw a free trade treaty with the US as a significant link in a wider effort to integrate Sacu economies into the rest of the world.
Ultimately, the objective was to boost development in the region.
The agreement would seek to build on the US African Growth and Opportunity Act to bring predictability in trade ties with the US, the department said. Under current US preferential trade arrangements, duty-free offers on products could be withdrawn to protect US companies from competition.
This week’s talks would cover a wide range of issues, including industrial and agricultural tariffs, product standards, and remedies against dumping. Also on the agenda would be so-called new generation trade issues such as services, investment, government procurement, and intellectual property, the department said. – Sapa