Obama: set to punish South Africa

The United States moved to suspend trade benefits for South African farm products on Thursday, escalating a drawn-out dispute over U.S. chicken and meat exports.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he planned to revoke duty-free status for South African agricultural goods in 60 days under a program set up to help African exporters.

“I am taking this step because South Africa continues to impose several longstanding barriers to U.S. trade, including barriers affecting certain U.S. agricultural exports,” he said in a letter to Congress.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said South Africa could still avoid the suspension, which could cost it up to $7 million in lost benefits, if it met benchmarks to eliminate barriers to U.S. poultry, pork, and beef.

South Africa has banned U.S. poultry imports since last December after an outbreak of bird flu. The measure came on top of 15 years of punitive import duties on some U.S. chicken products.

The country missed an Oct. 15 deadline to agree on new animal health and food safety rules, which also affect U.S. beef and pork exports, prompting the United States to warn that its eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program was at risk.

Eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment is one of the criteria for membership of AGOA, which was renewed earlier this year and provides duty-free access to goods from sub-Saharan African countries, ranging from crude oil to clothing.

“We do not take this decision lightly, and, in fact, have been working hard over many months – indeed years – to help South Africa avoid such action. Unfortunately, the issues persist,” Froman said in a statement.

National Chicken Council President Mike Brown backed the move and said it made no sense for the United States to give special preferences to countries that treated it unfairly.

In a reaction on Friday, South Africa’s trade minister said the country was taking seriously a warning that the United States could revoke duty-free status for South African agricultural goods following a drawn-out dispute over U.S. chicken and meat exports.

“We take the letter seriously as a warning that if we don’t conclude, this will happen,” Trade Minister Rob Davies told a news conference in Cape Town.

“We also believe that we are pretty close to resolving the sanitary matters that were outstanding.”