South Africa’s steel and citrus industries have a lot to lose if the United States ends tax-free access to the US market under its AGOA legislation.
They are among those fearing that the Trump administration will stop those benefits for South Africa, and possibly for other African countries, when AGOA comes up for renewal later this year.
South African citrus has benefited from decades of duty-free entry into the US market, Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa, told the Daily Maverick. Exports had nearly doubled since 2017, with 110 000 tons in 2022/23 making up nearly 9% of citrus exports.
“Without AGOA, South Africa would lose its competitive edge in the US market. Agoa keeps our citrus tariff‐free, allowing us to compete with southern hemisphere rivals such as Peru and Chile – countries that already benefit from lower costs and duty‐free access. If removed, we risk losing thousands of rural jobs and over a billion rands in export revenue, as currently 35,000 local jobs and an additional 20,000 jobs in the US depend on these exports.”
The industry hopes that a trade agreement can be reached with the US. It is also exploring alternative markets, such as India and China.
South Africa’s steel and aluminium industries have already been hammered by 25% tariffs ordered by President Donald Trump. The additional loss of AGOA benefits would be a further blow.
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) said the tariffs will have a negative impact on the industry, Business Day reported.
“We are definitely not pleased about it, it will impact our sector that is already under severe strain from a number of global market dynamics and trade practices namely electricity and rail tariffs, levels of safeguard protection and the current lack of steel demand in the sector just to name a few, tough times definitely ahead,” Seifsa CEO Lucio Trentini said.
According to the SA Iron and Steel Institute (SaisiI), the country exported about 1.64-million tonnes of steel to the US between 2015 and 2024.
The loss of AGOA benefits would be a disaster for South African agriculture, according to Johann Kotze, CEO of Agri SA, which represents 1 000 farmer associations.
He told the Sunday Times that 75% of South Africa’s agricultural exports to the US depend on AGOA, “so it’s a big play for us”.
“The moment you take Agoa away you hurt South African agriculture badly. The US is a stunning market for us because the seasonality of what we produce fits into a specific time span in the US which guarantees good prices and makes it a lucrative market for us. Anything that disturbs our trade with the US is a disaster.”
