The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has filed a lawsuit
seeking to force the government to suspend the quota in response
to the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on
aluminum and steel imports from South Africa.
"We will certainly be encouraging our government to take
appropriate action," James Sumner, president of the USA Poultry
and Egg Export Council, told Reuters late on Tuesday.
The looming row could put at risk duty-free access to the U.S.
market for nearly $2 billion worth of South African exports,
government officials and trade experts say.
South Africa levies a tariff on "bone-in" poultry that it says
is exported by major world producers, including the United
States, at prices below the cost of production.
The U.S. poultry industry believes the anti-dumping tariff is
illegal.
Threatened with losing its benefits under AGOA - the United
States' flagship trade legislation for Africa - South Africa
agreed to a quota in 2015 allowing some 65,000 tonnes of meat
from U.S. producers to be imported tariff-free each year.
AGOA grants qualifying countries duty-free access to the U.S.
market for thousands of goods. More than $1.8 billion in South
African exports to the United States were covered by AGOA last
year.
However, South Africa's poultry association is arguing that
tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum
imports imposed by Washington earlier this year violate the
quota agreement by curtailing AGOA benefits.
"We hope that the U.S. and South Africa will amicably resolve
and differences they have over the (steel and aluminum) tariffs
but it should not interfere with agreements already reached on
poultry trade," Sumner said.
(Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by James Macharia and Richard
Balmforth)
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