South Africa’s Play to Ease Tensions With Trump: A New Trade Deal

South Africa is preparing a new trade offer to present to President Trump, hoping to appeal to his transactional approach to foreign policy and ease boiling tensions with Washington, a spokesman for South Africa’s president said this week.

The spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said in an interview that South African officials are anticipating Mr. Trump will call for an end to the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a decades-old trade agreement that has been an economic boon to the 32 African nations that it includes.

The act allows billions of dollars worth of goods — from produce to cars — from sub-Saharan Africa to enter the United States without duties. It is scheduled to expire this year but could be reauthorized by Congress.

Although officials in South Africa hope the program will be renewed, they plan to offer the United States a bilateral deal that would increase trade in sectors such as energy, Mr. Magwenya said.

A future without the African Growth and Opportunity Act would represent a significant shift for the continent’s largest economy. South Africa has for years lobbied against threats to expel it from the program on the grounds that its economy had grown too advanced. .

South African officials argue that the African Growth and Opportunity Act has kept businesses confident in the South African economy, helped maintain stability across the continent and fostered a healthy relationship with the United States.