VZCZCXRO9519
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #0924/01 1281056
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081056Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8382
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHOR/AMEMBASSY GABORONE 5480
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 2856
RUEHMB/AMEMBASSY MBABANE 4530
RUEHWD/AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK 5001
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCPDC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000924 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO BILL JACKSON AT USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND ETRD SF
SUBJECT: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES CALLS ON DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND 
INDUSTRY DIRECTOR GENERAL 
 
PRETORIA 00000924  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Department of Trade and Industry Director 
General Tsheido Matona said the time was right to move 
forward on the U.S./SACU Trade, Investment and Development 
Cooperation Agreement (TIDCA).  In a meeting with the Charge 
d'Affaires on April 29, he saw TIDCA as a venue for promoting 
private sector ties and removing impediments to bilateral 
trade.  The South African government does not intend to 
institute protectionist policies in response to the global 
economic crisis, said Matona, and the U.S. must lead the 
worldwide commitment on protectionism.  Matona confirmed that 
President-Elect Zuma's new trade minister will attend the 
Corporate Council on Africa meeting in Washington in 
September and that he would urge Zuma to lead South Africa's 
delegation.  Matona requested that a Cabinet-level official 
lead a U.S. delegation to a trade and industry conference in 
South Africa in October.  The International Trade 
Administration Commission plans to seek clarification on the 
2007 Supreme Court of Appeal ruling to lift the anti-dumping 
measures on U.S. poultry parts.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) South Africa wants to deepen its trade and 
investment relationship with the United States, according to 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Director General 
Tsheido Matona.  Charge d'Affaires called on Matona on April 
29 to discuss the status of the Trade, Investment and 
Development Cooperation Agreement (TIDCA) and the South 
African Government's (SAG) response to the global economic 
crisis.  The DG was accompanied by Deputy Director General of 
Trade and Investment South Africa Iqbal Sharma, Director of 
the Americas Desk Victor Mashabela, and International Trade 
Administration Commission (ITAC) Director of Trade Remedies 
Carina Grove.  Charge La Lime was joined by the Deputy 
Economic Counselor, the Deputy Senior Commercial Officer, the 
Deputy Agriculture Attache, and the Trade and Investment 
Officer (notetaker). 
 
-------------------------------------- 
BILATERAL TRADE AND IMPLEMENTING TIDCA 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Matona saw an opportunity to broaden and strengthen 
our trade relationship, given leadership changes in the U.S. 
and South Africa.  He stressed the importance of moving 
forward on TIDCA, saying, "TIDCA is the only instrument that 
we have to manage our relationship; we must figure out how to 
use TIDCA."  He raised several possible agenda items for 
TIDCA, including: 
 
-- Promotion of bilateral trade and investment 
-- Promotion of business-to-business contacts 
-- Cooperation in product standards 
-- Dumping cases and the tensions they cause for the 
bilateral relationship 
-- Ways of enhancing and perpetuating African Growth and 
Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Charge asked Matona for his assistance in getting 
TIDCA working groups up and running before the AGOA Forum 
that will be held in Kenya in August.  Matona said SACU would 
aim to reach agreement on a proposed TIDCA agenda at the SACU 
Trade Committee meeting on May 18.  Assuming that agreement 
is reached, SACU would then invite the U.S. to send 
negotiators to meet with their SACU counterparts prior to the 
SACU Council of Ministers meeting in Namibia in June. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Q-------------------------------- 
G20 COMMITMENTS ON PROTECTIONISM 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Matona stressed that all countries must resist 
protectionist and "beggar thy neighbor" policies.  Domestic 
actions have global implications, he commented, and South 
Africa will not retreat into protectionism or retreat from 
trade."  Asked about media reports that South Africa might 
raise some tariffs to WTO-bound levels to shield firms from 
competition, Matona explained that the SAG might provide 
"temporary relief" to certain sectors to help them "weather 
the storm.  He noted, however, that developing countries, in 
particular, would be the biggest casualties of a slide into 
protectionism.  He called on the U.S. to exercise leadership 
to maintain an open trading system in this time of economic 
turmoil. 
 
PRETORIA 00000924  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
CORPORATE COUNCIL ON AFRICA AND ICT BILATERAL FORUM 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Deputy Senior Commercial Officer invited the DTI 
to send a delegation to the Corporate Council on Africa 
meeting in Washington in September.  Matona said 
President-Elect Zuma's new minister of trade and industry 
would attend and that he (Matona) would urge President-Elect 
Zuma to lead the delegation.  Deputy Senior Commercial 
Officer also outlined cooperative efforts by post and the 
American Chamber of Commerce to establish a bilateral 
information and communications technology (ICT) forum to use 
ICT to further the African National Congress' Polokwane goals 
in the areas of crime, education, and health care. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
INVITATION TO TRADE AND INVESTMENT CONFERENCE 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Sharma said DTI is planning a trade and investment 
conference in Johannesburg October 27-29, 2009.   Matona 
requested that a U.S. Cabinet-level official lead the U.S. 
business delegation to the conference and to participate as a 
panelist.  A formal invitation to the conference will be 
forthcoming. 
 
------------------ 
DUMPING LITIGATION 
------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Deputy Agricultural Attache requested an update on 
the anti-dumping duties on U.S. poultry parts and other 
goods.  Grove said DTI plans to go to court to request 
clarification of a Supreme Court of Appeal opinion in 2007 
that had called into question the validity of the duties. 
ITAC expects to file its request with the court within the 
next few months. 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Post is encouraged that Matona wishes to deepen 
South Africa's trade and investment relationship with the 
United States and that he wants to make progress on the 
TIDCA.  The new Zuma administration may offer the opportunity 
to improve our bilateral trade relationship.  Post recommends 
seriously considering the request to have a Cabinet-level USG 
official lead a business delegation to DTI's trade and 
investment conference in October. 
 
LA LIME