BRICS, Mega-Regional FTAs and South Africa’s Trade Strategy

The document examines how the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) challenge the BRICS nations, who have historically prioritised global financial reform and the WTO Doha Round over a collective trade strategy. It highlights a shift toward 'plurilateralism' and regionalism, noting that BRICS members are pursuing diverse regional paths, such as China's involvement in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and South Africa's focus on the COMESA-SADC-EAC tripartite FTA. For South Africa, the author identifies a critical dilemma in managing the contradictions between the EU's Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), recommending that South Africa leverage the TTIP negotiations to harmonise these two frameworks.

• The BRICS grouping lacks a unified global trade strategy, focusing instead on local currency internationalisation and accessing natural resource markets, while maintaining a collective commitment to completing the stalled WTO Doha Development Round.
• US-led mega-regional free trade agreements, specifically the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), threaten to marginalise the WTO and the Doha Round, prompting BRICS and other emerging economies to seek strategic responses.
• BRICS nations are responding to global trade dynamics through diverse regional and inter-regional configurations: Brazil via Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance, Russia through an Eurasian customs union, India and China via the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and South Africa through the COMESA-SADC-EAC tripartite FTA.
• South Africa faces a strategic conflict between its regional integration goals in Africa and its trade relations with the North, specifically the need to reconcile the EU's Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
• The author recommends that South Africa and the African Union advocate for the harmonisation of AGOA and EPAs as a 'bucket of global issues' to be negotiated between the US and EU during the TTIP process.

APA

Jr., F. A. K. (2014). BRICS, Mega-Regional FTAs and South Africa’s Trade Strategy. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Occasional-Paper-191.pdf

Chicago

Jr., Francis A. Kornegay,. BRICS, Mega-Regional FTAs and South Africa’s Trade Strategy. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2014. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Occasional-Paper-191.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jr. |first1=Francis A. Kornegay, |title=BRICS, Mega-Regional FTAs and South Africa’s Trade Strategy |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Occasional-Paper-191.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jr2014brics, author = {Jr., Francis A. Kornegay,}, title = {{BRICS, Mega-Regional FTAs and South Africa’s Trade Strategy}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Occasional-Paper-191.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }