South African agriculture poised to weather Trump's tariff storm

IN A RECENTLY published report by the Brenthurst Foundation, South African agriculture is depicted as resilient enough to navigate the challenges posed by the proposed tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

- YOGASHEN PILLAY

Led by Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), and Tinashe Kapuya, a specialist in agricultural trade, the analysis asserts that with the right measures, South Africa can counteract the shock waves from this geo-economic upheaval.

The report said that from a South African perspective, the upheaval of the global geo-economic and political landscape created heightened uncertainty, which demands a set of interventions that can effectively reduce risk, preserve economic interests, and continue to grow the country's economy through its export-led strategy.

The report added that over the past two and a half decades, South Africa has enjoyed duty-free, quota-free market access into the US under the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) preference programme. “The Trump tariffs abruptly ended Agoa by introducing tariffs that will likely have some profound and long-term implications for South Africa and other markets globally. The new tariffs, previously set at 31%, but now temporarily set at 10% for 90 days, present greater urgency to the need for export diversification.”

The report said that South Africa's agricultural exports of $13.7 billion in 2024, the US accounted for 4% of South Africa's agricultural exports.