Don't be chicken: SACP calls for South Africa to withdraw trade concessions to US, including chicken imports

The South African Communist Party (SACP), an alliance partner of the African National Congress, has urged the South African government to respond to the trade tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump.

IOL reported on Thursday that Trump announced reciprocal tariffs for several countries, including 31% for certain South African goods imported into the US.

Trump, while announcing the wholesale tariffs on countries including the People's Republic of China, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Japan, and South Korea, remarked that "a lot of bad things" are going on in South Africa. 

Speaking to IOL following the conclusion of the SACP’s Central Committee meeting in Joburg, the party's spokesperson, Dr Alex Mashilo, said South Africa has to re-examine the trade concessions which were made in light of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) deal around 2015, where the United States was granted privilege to export to South Africa 65,000 tonnes of bone-in chicken pieces.

Back in 2015, South Africa’s powerful poultry industry agreed to exclude 65,000 tonnes of US chicken from the anti-dumping tariff - in return for the renewal of broader duty-free US trade access that benefited other South African industries.

Mashilo told IOL that since the tariffs unleashed by Trump nullify the Agoa benefits, South Africa must also withdraw the trade concession to United States, including for the importation of the US chicken into South Africa.

"South Africa must remove all the concessions it had made in exchange of access to Agoa because the tariffs imposed by the US are removing the Agoa benefits for South Africa. In other words, the concessions that had made, in exchange of Agoa with the US, will be purposeless since the benefits that South Africa accessed under Agoa will no longer apply," he said.

"If South Africa does not do away with all the concessions it has made in exchange of access to Agoa, US goods will put pressure on local production and employment, and result in retrenchments in the affected sectors."

He argued that by withdrawing US's special access to the South African market, the move would not be viewed as retaliation by simply an effort by Pretoria to balance the trade. 

"The tariffs imposed by the United States are removing the duty-free benefits that South Africa has accessed under Agoa. In other words, we exported a certain category of goods to the United States duty-free under Agoa. Now, when you implement tariffs on South Africa's exports to the US, or on South African imports in the US, you are in other words removing the duty-free benefits that South Africa has had under Agoa," said Mashilo.

"There is no such thing called retaliation if South Africa withdraws from the concessions. The concessions for the importation of chicken from United States were made on the basis that South Africa was benefitting under Agoa. When they have withdrawn the benefits, and South Africa maintains the concessions made in light of Agoa, would that be fair on South Africa? This would be just a move for a fair relationship, not a retaliation."

On Friday, IOL reported that Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said the wave of global trade tariffs unleashed by Trump effectively nullify the massive benefits under Agoa.

"The reciprocal tariffs effectively nullify the preferences that Sub-Saharan Africa countries enjoy under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The sweeping tariff measures will affect several sectors of our economy, including automotive industry, agriculture, processed food and beverage, chemical, metals, and other segments of manufacturing, with implications for jobs and growth," said Lamola.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL