Reuters reports that tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump will hurt citrus farms and could potentially affect 35,000 jobs, the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) warned on Tuesday.
Trump announced a 31% tariff on US imports from SA on 2 April. SA, the world’s second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, ships between 5% and 6% of its produce to the US, so earning more than $100m annually. The new tariff would place an additional $4.50 cost on each carton, making SA’s fruit less competitive in the US market. Towns such as Citrusdal in the Western Cape, which are heavily dependent on citrus exports to the US, could be hit especially hard. CGA chair Gerrit van der Merwe said. “The severity and immediate nature of the impending tariffs could mean that towns like it now face either increased unemployment or maybe even total economic collapse. There is immense anxiety in our communities.” A total of 35,000 jobs are directly connected to SA’s citrus exports. With farmers starting to pack citrus destined for the US market this week, growers have called on the government “to prioritise immediate negotiations with the US on tariff reductions or exemptions on citrus”. SA has said it will not retaliate against the US and will instead seek to negotiate exemptions and quota agreements. Trump’s tariffs effectively nullify benefits African countries have enjoyed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which grants qualifying states duty-free access to the US market. The 25-year-old trade initiative is set to expire in September.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nelson Banya at BusinessLive
- Read too, South African citrus exporters worried about US tariff impact on jobs, industry growth, at Engineering News
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