South Africa’s poultry industry would like a seat at the table if there are to be any changes on import tariffs or quotas of United States chicken imports, according to Astral CEO Gary Arnold.
His comments were made during an online briefing on Astral’s interim results, Business Report said. They came ahead of the meeting scheduled this week between South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and the US President Donald Trump, as well as trade talks between the two countries.
South Africa wanted to reset relations between South Africa and the US, Business Report said, and to discuss the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which provides duty-free access for South African exports but is up for renewal.
Since 2015, the AGOA terms have included a quota, currently 72 000 tonnes, of US chicken imports into South Africa free of anti-dumping duties which would otherwise apply.
Arnold told investors that, technically, the quota fell away because of the 10% tariffs the US is charging on South African imports that used to enter the US duty free.
However, he said, there was no certainty on this yet, and “much would depend on the bilateral talks this week and the outcome of talks to renew AGOA scheduled for September.”
