The South African Table Grape Industry Association (Sati) will urgently appeal to the US trade representative for the inclusion of South African table grapes and other commodities under the recent US dispensation to lift import tariffs on certain products, including citrus fruit.
Last week US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing a range of food products worldwide to be exempt from his punitive tariffs, including oranges, bananas, mangoes, coconuts, avocados and tomatoes, which could not be produced in sufficient quantities in the US. Table grapes were excluded from the relief.
The decision to exempt oranges from the tariff was welcomed by the Citrus Growers’ Association, which noted in the past season that South Africa shipped 4.3-million 15kg cartons of oranges to the US. Without the dispensation, citrus exports would have been hit with the 30% tariff that applies to South African exports to the US bar certain exceptions.
Sati said in a statement on Thursday that it would appeal to the US trade representative in conjunction with the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) and the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) for the inclusion of South African table grapes under the relief. It would also seek clarity on how the product exemptions were determined.
“Sati is concerned that key South African agricultural exports, including table grapes, soft citrus and other deciduous fruits, were not included among the exempted products,” the association’s CEO, Mecia Petersen, said.
“These exclusions mean that South African fruit exporters continue to face significant cost pressures when entering the US market, despite SA’s longstanding position as a reliable, counter-seasonal supplier of fresh grapes to US importers and consumers.”
Petersen said the US relied on imported grapes.
“We strongly believe that South Africa should be afforded fair and equal treatment alongside other Southern Hemisphere suppliers (such as Chile and Peru), who currently enjoy reciprocal tariff rates much lower than South Africa’s.
“By volume, South Africa is the fourth largest exporter of table grapes in the world and the third-largest in the Southern Hemisphere (about 400,000 tonnes exported in the 2024 calendar year),“ she said.
South African producers had been supplying the US market for more than 20 years and the industry had invested in resources to ensure they met the high specifications of the US market, Petersen said.
“These higher duties raise the landed cost of South African fruit and limit the industry’s ability to compete effectively in this important market.”
South Africa has now entered the 2025/26 table grape export season.
In the 2024/25 season, South Africa exported about 2.2-million 4.5kg cartons (9,900 tonnes) of table grapes to the US, valued at about R360m. This marked an increase from the 1.3-million 4.5kg cartons (6,000 tonnes) exported to the US in 2023/24.
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