SA must use the weeks before the introduction of a US 30% tariff increase on imports from SA on August 1 to try to renegotiate the announcement made on Monday by US President Donald Trump, agriculture minister John Steenhuisen said on Tuesday.
Delivering his budget vote speech in the National Assembly, Steenhuisen said SA could breathe a sigh of relief that the tariff hike would not come into effect immediately.
He said SA could use the next few weeks to try to negotiate a way forward to prevent it.
“I look forward to working with [trade, industry & competition] minister [Parks] Tau and others in the coming weeks to urgently seek a way through this impasse and ensure that we can avoid a 30% tariff increase for the agriculture sector,” Steenhuisen said.
While not explicit, the announcement would signal the end to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which gives SA duty-free access to the US for more than 6,000 products, including goods and automobiles, agriculture and textile industries.
Questioned during a media briefing after his budget vote speech, Steenhuisen said the US did not believe the initial trade deal that SA had proposed was ambitious enough and had sent it back for reworking. SA needed to find out what the US wanted.
Steenhuisen said he had met with US trade representatives on Tuesday morning to try to find a solution to the situation. With regard to agricultural products, Steenhuisen said the US was concerned about avian flu barriers and issues on blueberries, which SA had tried to accommodate.
“I think we have now bought some time until the end of the month to put on the table a more credible alternative,” the minister said.
SA’s agriculture is heavily export-orientated, with exports worth $13.7bn in 2024. The primary products at risk include citrus, macadamia nuts, grapes, subtropical fruits, wine, fruit juices, ostrich leather and other fresh produce.
The citrus sector’s dependence on the US market, where about 7-million cartons of citrus are exported annually, is vital for rural employment and economic stability.
“This significant development highlights the urgent need for SA to adopt strategic responses to safeguard and diversify its agricultural export markets amid evolving global trade dynamics,” Agri SA said in a statement.
The organisation said that while the US market, under Agoa, accounted for about 4% of SA’s total agricultural exports (about $488m in 2024), the effect on key products could be significant, with knock-on effects across the value chain.
This is especially true for citrus.
SA is a counter-seasonal citrus supplier to the US, with the primary export window running from July to October. This means SA does not compete with US counterparts — it merely supplements the US demand.
“It will make SA citrus uncompetitive in the US,” said Boitshoko Ntshabele, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA).
“Entire rural economies, like that of Citrusdal, are sustained by the US export citrus market. A 30% tariff would wreak havoc on entire communities.”
Ntshabele said the CGA believes that a mutually beneficial trade deal between SA and the US by August 1 is possible, “or, at least, that an exemption for seasonal fresh produce can be negotiated”.
Other fruits such as subtropical fruits, table grapes, avocados, macadamia nuts, blueberries and stone fruits would also be affected, Agri SA said.
The organisation said a 30% tariff would also obliterate margins for wine exporters, jeopardising vineyard jobs and rural livelihoods while leaving producers little time to pivot to alternative markets.
Ostrich products would also be hit hard: costlier leather, feather dusters and pet treats — 60% of which are normally US-bound — would be likely to dampen US demand, drive up prices in sectors such as footwear and disrupt this niche export trade.
Imameleng Mothebe, CEO of the Association of Meat Importers & Exporters, told Business Day while it is too early to fully assess the implications, “any disruption to established trade flows is naturally a concern, particularly in a sector that relies on predictable, rules-based access to global markets”.
Update July 8 2025: This story has been updated with more comments.
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