4 days ago
We'll adjust to the game, says the citrus industry as Tau, Steenhuisen target new markets
A 30% tariff on South African citrus would push up prices by about $4.25 a carton in the US, putting South Africa at risk of losing market share to Chile and Peru, which face only a 10% tariff.
According to Hannes de Waal, chief executive of the Sundays River Citrus Company and board member of the Citrus Growers Association, the industry expects a favourable outcome from tariff negotiations with the US — if not now, then soon.
'Citrus and fruit growers are important to this country as job creators and obviously as earners of foreign exchange. We play an important role in the economy. We still expect that there will be a favourable outcome,' he said. 'Nothing stays fixed, you know… Everything is up for negotiation.'
The US has imposed a 30% tariff on some South African imports, effective from 7 August 2025, hitting key sectors including agriculture and the automotive industry.
De Waal said the tariff would make South African citrus unaffordable to the average American consumer. Some citrus growers contacted by Daily Maverick said they were still bracing for impact, but would count their losses only in the coming weeks.
He said the US' shift from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) — a trade programme that gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to the US market — to a tariff-based approach had changed the game, but he trusted that the industry would recover and find other ways to survive.
'We will adjust to the game and we will make sure that we can ship citrus to the world.'
New markets
Speaking at a joint press briefing between the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, 12 August 2025, Ministers Parks Tau and John Steenhuisen presented a unified front regarding the efforts being undertaken to maintain existing export markets and develop new opportunities.
They said increasing the standard of our citrus quality could expand access to the EU and China, and noted potential new export routes to Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as across Africa. Excusing himself for the pun, Steenhuisen stated that 'the low-hanging fruit would be the ability to redirect citrus that is going to the US'.
Despite the pivot toward new export markets, both ministers were clear that negotiations with the US were continuing and that the country remained an important trading partner.
'And when it comes to citrus, both the processing and the quality of the South African offering… I think that the US gets a good deal from South African agriculture,' said Steenhuisen.
According to economic data platform Trading Economics, South Africa exported more than $233-million worth of edible fruits, nuts, peel of citrus fruit and melons to the US in 2024.
The agriculture department had established a 'high-level negotiation team', said Joylene van Wyk, Steenhuisen's spokesperson. Led by Director-General Mooketsa Ramasodi, it includes Mike Modisane, chief director for Animal Production and Health, and Dr Maanda Rambauli, the director for Plant Health, who will advise on 'sanitary and phytosanitary matters'.
A 30% tariff on South African citrus would increase the price of a carton by roughly $4.25. This puts South Africa at risk of losing market share to Chile and Peru, which face a 10% US tariff.
South Africa typically exported about seven million cartons of citrus (the equivalent of 100,000 tons) to the US – which was 4% of all South African citrus exports, Van Wyk said.
She said that among the negotiation points was that South African citrus was counter-seasonal, meaning its exports did not compete directly with US citrus production.
Exemption
SA Citrus Growers' Association chief executive Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele reiterated the association's call to the South African government to secure a mutually beneficial trade deal with the US, or an exemption for seasonal fresh produce.
'There are examples where this approach has yielded success,' he said. 'Brazilian orange juice has been exempted from US tariffs. This is good news for citrus in general, and hopefully points towards a precedent for South Africa.
'Quality, fresh South African citrus plays a significant role in ensuring year-round supply of citrus for US consumers, and in avoiding possible citrus price increases in the US. We urge the US to take this into account, as well as the fact that we supply citrus when the US growers themselves are out of season,' Ntshabele said.
Accelerating shipments
Ntshabele said that as the southern hemisphere's citrus season ended in October, South Africa had passed the middle of the season. This meant local citrus growers had managed to accelerate shipments to the US before the deadline.
Ntshabele said this had lessened some of the effects of the tariff on the current season's US exports, but the financial impact on producers would be detrimental next season should a beneficial trade deal not be concluded. He said some growers in the Northern and Western Cape had planted orchards specifically to meet US demand.
'These growers are now deciding whether to divert what is left of their crops to other markets, if possible,' Ntshabele said. 'They can, in certain situations, also choose to absorb the immense financial costs of the tariff, to the detriment of the financial viability of their entire enterprise.'
Ntshabele noted that growers would ensure that fruit would not be left to rot or wasted, saying it could go to charity.
'The primary goal of South Africa's citrus growers is to keep their enterprises afloat and their workers employed by selling premium citrus at profitable prices in overseas markets,' Ntshabele said.
'We welcome the support measures announced by the government thus far, but the only way to fully protect everybody in our vulnerable rural communities from big tariff shocks would be to negotiate a deal or exemption urgently,' he said. DM
