South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been disinvited from the G7 summit in Evian, France, after the United States threatened to boycott the meeting if South Africa attended, the presidency said on Thursday.

France was forced to withdraw its invitation to Ramaphosa due to sustained pressure from US President Donald Trump, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told AFP.

“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Magwenya said.

“We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited,” he said.

The decision comes after months of escalating tension between South Africa and the Trump administration over issues ranging from trade to race relations and foreign policy.

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Trump has imposed 30% tariffs on most South African exports, the highest rate for any sub-Saharan African country, though the US Supreme Court has since overruled the tariffs policy.

The US president has also criticised South Africa’s racial justice policies, which were enacted to address historic inequalities left by colonial rule and apartheid. Trump has condemned these policies as discriminatory against whites, including making discredited claims of a “white genocide” during a meeting with Ramaphosa in the Oval Office.

Relations deteriorated further after South Africa took US ally Israel to the International Court of Justice for allegedly committing genocide in its war in Gaza.

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Trump boycotted the G20 summit held in Johannesburg in November, where French President Emmanuel Macron personally invited Ramaphosa to participate in the G7. The Group of Seven industrialised nations often extends invitations to other countries to participate in its work.

Despite the withdrawal of the invitation, Magwenya said the incident would not affect South Africa’s relationship with France.

“This will have no impact on the strength and close nature of our bilateral relationship with France,” he said.

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He added that South Africa remained committed to constructive engagement with the United States.

“The diplomatic relationship between USA and South Africa predate the Trump administration and they will outlive the current White House term of office,” Magwenya said.

The G7 summit is scheduled to take place in the French town of Evian in June.

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