Citrus dodges Trump’s protectionist bullet

South African fruit, in particular citrus, seems to have escaped American President Donald Trump’s path of protectionism – for now. The country’s steel sector, and possibly soon the automotive industry, have been the target of increased tariffs introduced by the US under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. As part of Trump’s ongoing trade dispute with several countries – including China and Canada – the US raised its import duties on steel by 25% and aluminium by 10%. According to Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, while the US was luckily not a big steel and aluminium market for South Africa, the sector was feeling the impact of the increased tariffs and the dti was in talks with Washington about the impact of the decision on the country. “Our exports account for only about 1.4% of aluminium and less than 1% of total steel imports in the US,” he told members of the Exporters’ Club Western Cape recently. It did however represent some 5% of South African production, involving some 7500 jobs locally, which was why the dti continued to push for tariff exemptions for South Africa’s steel and aluminium. But, said Davies, he was happy to report that the US had taken a far more lenient approach to Citrus Black Spot, unlike Europe which had continued to put pressure on citrus growers and had even halted exports after finding less than a handful of CBS-affected fruit. “Thanks to the support of some of the senators, the US has accepted a regime on CBS that is very different from that of Europe. That is very good news for South African producers as they have accepted the global norm on CBS,” he said. “That means the very strict rules with all the cost implications will not apply to exports.” Davies said that if the US did decide to exclude SA from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), the duty on citrus was 1% out of season and 2% in season. “That will not be the end of the world,” he said.