Ties between South Africa and the U.S. have been deteriorating for years, and last week, they unraveled even further.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill, on a wide bipartisan basis, that would review the trading partnership between the U.S. and South Africa. Republican Rep. John James, who introduced the bill, said doing so was “important to show the American people that they will no longer be played as fools.”
U.S. officials have been watching with unease as South Africa, its largest trading partner on the African continent, allied with Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and has pursued closer relations with China. James introduced the bill to review the U.S.-South Africa partnership with Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in February, a month after South Africa sued Israel in the International Court of Justice and accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.