It has been another critical week for South African trade negotiations with US, with Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa meeting at the G-7 summit in Canada
While South African fresh produce exporters to the US still wait with bated breath on trade tariffs, the two countries have agreed one crucial deal – on imports of US chickens into South Africa.
The country has adopted a dynamic trade mechanism with the US to secure chicken imports.
South African fruit exporters are waiting to hear what level of tariffs will be applied to them once the pause in new US tariffs expires on 9 July.
This is during the key shipping period for South African citrus – the country’s biggest fruit export category to the US.
Much hope is pinned on a meeting at the G-7 summit in Alberta, Canada, where president Donald Trump is expected to have a second meeting with South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa.
The first, well publicised, meeting between the two in Washington did not end well.
South African citrus is now some four weeks into its conventional reefer shipping programme, and it is expected that all fruit shipped before 9 July, will enter the US under old rates.
What will happen thereafter, during the important late Mandarin and Midknight orange shipping programme, remains to be seen.
South Africans will hope that the latest developments in the Middle East, in the war between Israel and Iran, will not take Trump’s focus away from US-South African trade issues.
The chicken deal, according to some, shows that in certain instances the US is prepared to make an agreement – and that may help South African fruit exports.
