In an escalation of the ongoing attacks led by the U.S. Trump administration against South Africa, on Dec .10, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) named South Africa as an “enemy of the United States.” His statement occurred during Kennedy’s questioning of U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the inclusion of South Africa in the potential extension of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), reported Lagos, Nigeria daily City Voice.
The AGOA, which expired on Sept. 30, 2025, and had provided “duty-free treatment to goods of designated sub-Saharan African countries (SSAs). The program dates from 2000 and has the goal of promoting economic growth through good governance and free markets,” according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
Senator Kennedy then questioned Greer regarding separating South Africa from the AGOA, and to give it special treatment, due to the fact that South Africa represents “a unique problem for America. I mean, they are our enemy right now. They are buddies with all of our enemies. And they have been very critical of the United States,” reported City Voice. Greer agreed: “That is exactly right. And that is why they are actually treated in a much different way. Most of the African continent, Sub-Saharan Africa, has just 10%, and South Africa has 30%” tariffs.
Senator Kennedy introduced a bill in September 2025, called the “U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act, which would require a full review of America’s relationship with South Africa in light of its government’s alignment with U.S. adversaries,” announced his website. The bill would require “a classified list of South African government officials and members of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, eligible for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, and would end South Africa’s eligibility to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act.”