USA Politician John Kennedy Declares SA an Enemy Amid Growing Tensions
- The United States Senator John Kennedy has called South Africa the enemy of the United States of America
- The United States has indicated uncertainty about renewing the African Growth Opportunity Act and discussed possible exceptions and an extension to the agreement
- Kennedy called for South Africa to be excluded from the AGOA, as Trade Representative Jamieson Greer appeared before the Senate
Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, covered local and international politics, political analysis, and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his 10 years of experience.
Source: Getty Images
UNITED STATES — United States politician John Kennedy called South Africa the enemy of the United States. He said that South Africa could be excluded from a new AGOA deal.
SABC News journalist Sherwin Bryce-Pease posted a video on 10 December 2025 on his @sherwiebp X account. The video was of Greer answering questions in the Senate from Republican Senator John Kennedy on 9 December 2025. Kennedy recently introduced legislation to review the US's relationship with the US. He called for South Africa to be classified as America's enemy.
Jamieson Greer speaks about South Africa
Kennedy asked Greer what the Senate was going to do about South Africa as part of AGOA. He said that America is not South Africa's friend. Greer agreed that the two countries do not have good bilateral relations. He also said that South Africa has a lot of tariff and non-tariff barriers.
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"We've made it clear to the South Africans that if they want to have a better tariff situation with us, they need to take care of the tariff situation," he said.
Kennedy also said that South Africa has a big economy with an industrial and agricultural base. He said South Africa should be buying from South Africans. When Kennedy asked if extending AGOA would benefit South Africa, he responded that it could. He added that the United States imposed a 30% tariff on South Africa, which is much higher than the rest of the continent.
Source: Getty Images
Kennedy declares SA a US enemy
Kennedy asked if South Africa should be separated from AGOA. Greer said that he could consider it because South Africa was a unique problem.
Kennedy then said that SA is indeed a unique problem.
"I mean, they're our enemy right now. And they're buddies with all our enemies, and they've been very critical of the United States," he said.
View the X clip here:
South Africa's importance in African trade
Despite the United States' hesitation to continue its AGOA partnership, South Africa plays a significant role in African trade. According to the Global Trade Magazine, South Africa's Port of Durban is one of the most important ports in Africa. It enables traders to maintain relations with companies from South and North America, the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. It links African countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region with global trade partners. The South African government responded by investing in infrastructure after the Durban Port was ranked the worst in the world.
Fix relations with the US: Motor association
In a related article, Briefly News reported that the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) called on the South African government to repair relations with the United States. MISA's CEO of Operations, Martle Keyter, spoke to Briefly News about the impact of the tariffs the United States imposed on South Africa.
Keyter said that the country's economy cannot afford to be excluded from US trade law. She told Briefly News that MISA's concern is the impact that the strained relations will have on the motor industry.
Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
