South Africa picks Iran with $0.0118 billion in trade over the United States with $28.8 billion in trade

The South African government is antagonising the United States, with which it has $28.8 billion in trade, and befriends Iran, with which it has $0.0118 billion in trade.

The impact of South Africa’s poor international relations policies, which include its close relationship with Iran, has negative consequences for the country.

The most recent example is the United States’s decision to remove South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on 1 January 2027.

This will end South Africa’s duty-free access to the United States market for key industries. It will significantly hurt the agriculture and car manufacturing industries.

President Donald Trump said in his letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa that he was concerned about South Africa’s actions regarding international security.

Her highlighted that relations and cooperation with governments of concern to the United States risk undermining United States national security and foreign policy.

Although Trump did not explicitly mention Iran, it is definitely one of the countries the United States is concerned about.

The United States Ambassador to South Africa, L. Brent Bozell III, has regularly said that the country’s cosy relations with Iran are a problem.

The United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, has also said that they are targeting Iran through their ‘Operation Economic Outcast’.

The objective of Operation Economic Outcast is to sever every economic lifeline sustaining the Iranian regime.

He added that secondary sanctions will be extended to third countries and entities transacting with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This does not seem to bother the South African government, which continues to partner with Iran on military and other areas.

This puts South Africa at risk of further souring relations with the United States, jeopardising trade with this important partner.

South African trade: United States versus Iran

Comparing South Africa’s trade volumes with the United States and Iran makes it easy to see why people see the government’s international policy as madness.

South Africa exported $18.5 billion in goods and services to the United States and imported $10.3 billion.

That means South Africa exported $8.28 billion more to the United States than it imported, resulting in a valuable trade surplus.

Therefore, bilateral trade in goods and services between South Africa and the United States reached $28.8 billion in 2025.

South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Parks Tau, revealed that the country has $11.8 million in trade with Iran.

South Africa’s exports to Iran were $5.8 million in 2025, and its imports were $6.0 million, for a total annual trade of $11.8 million.

“Exports from South Africa to Iran are largely in agricultural and pharmaceutical products,” Tau said.

He argued that these exports are not affected by unilateral sanctions on Iran imposed by the United States and others.

“South African financial institutions have always undertaken necessary due diligence when conducting transactions for trade with Iran,” he said.

That means South Africa’s bilateral trade with Iran, at $11.8 million, is 0.04% of the United States’ $28.8 billion.

What is concerning is that the South African government prioritises its relationship with Iran over its relationship with the United States.

It is, therefore, putting $28.8 billion in trade with the United States at risk for no good reason.

South Africa	United States	Iran
Imports	$10.3 billion	$0.006 billion
Exports	$18.5 billion	$0.0058 billion
Total	$28.8 billion	$0.0118 billion