JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) threatens to hit export-dependent communities in the Western and Northern Cape.
The Citrus Growers’ Association warns that losing preferential access to the US market could deal a major blow to the industry.
Citrusdal is a case in point, with its local economy and livelihoods heavily reliant on access to the American market.
Citrus Growers Association’s Gerrit van der Merwe said, “In the short term, we will try our best to mitigate this as best we can at a high-level business and see if we can get a year or two. I think the US invited us to a bilateral meeting or bilateral trade negotiations, and hopefully that will get some traction with Roelof Meyer there," he said.
The United States Trade Representative on Monday announced that Washington would exclude South Africa and Rwanda from a major Africa-US duty-free trade deal, a blow to both economies, over practices "inconsistent" with the deal's eligibility criteria.
"These concerning and pervasive practices include, but are not limited to, barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region," Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
The exclusions are expected to take effect from January 1, the statement said.