United States set to swoop on South African poultry industry, says FairPlay

The government is feeding South Africa's chickens to eagles swooping in from the United States. Not for the first time, the country’s poultry industry is being sacrificed to secure a trade deal with the US. Worse, it is happening without consultation with the industry on the details or implications of what it is proposing, or possible alternatives.

- FRANCOIS BAIRD

No trade deal has yet been concluded, and there is little information about what South Africa is putting on the table. Yet, as it attempts to avert the 30% tariffs on all South African exports that President Donald Trump has threatened, the government is hinting at yet another blow to the country’s poultry producers.

A statement by trade minister Parks Tau gave little away. Outlining what South Africa had proposed - so far without any response from the US - Tau said South Africa had offered increased access to South African markets for US poultry producers. This would be achieved “by (the) simplifying of US poultry exports under the 2016 tariff rate quota and unlock approximately $91 million in trade”.

Exactly what this means is anybody's guess ~ the only thing that is clear is that, as in 2015, the poultry industry is once again going to be made to suffer for the sake of a trade deal. The 2016 quota which Tau hopes to “simplify” resulted from negotiations in 2015 when the US demanded that South Africa exempt huge volumes of US chicken from the anti-dumping duties that should apply according to World Trade Organisation rules. This was a make-or-break condition for the renewal of South Africa’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).