President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned South Africans to prepare for the possibility that the country gets dropped from AGOA, the United States trade programme that lets African goods enter the American market duty-free. His comments suggest Pretoria no longer counts on keeping its place in the arrangement. The scheme has shaped trade between the two countries for more than twenty years, giving South African exporters a cost advantage over competitors elsewhere. Car makers and citrus farmers are among those with the most at stake. Washington has been reviewing eligibility on the continent, and strained political relations between the two capitals have not helped South Africa's case. Ramaphosa urged businesses and government to plan for higher tariffs and to widen their export markets. He gave no timeline for a decision. Until one comes, exporters face planning under heavy uncertainty.