Workers sort grapefruit at the Canyon Pakker's packhouse on the Blydevallei Boerdery citrus farm outside Hoedspruit, South Africa, on Tuesday, April 9 2024. South Africa's growing fruit exports have been a rare bright spot in a stagnant economy, but now they are in peril too by the near collapse of the state rail and ports company. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
South African citrus growers have a bumper crop on their hands, and according to the latest estimates from the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), the industry expects to export a record 180 million 15kg cartons of the fruit this season.
That would be an above 9% increase on 2024’s 164.6 million, which was just shy of the 2023 record of 165.1 million cartons packed for global delivery.
This is a big deal. South Africa is the world’s second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, juicing the domestic economy with forex earnings, job creation and a value chain that extends to carton producers, input providers and roadside stands. The industry employs about 140,000 people.
But the tariff tantrums of the US administration could prune the current record estimate and reap a bitter harvest in the Northern and Western Cape, where the South African citrus destined for the American market is grown.
Friday, 1 August is D-Day for US President Donald Trump’s 30% tariffs on South African imports to kick in.
“This week, with the tariff deadline on Friday, is one of great anxiety for the citrus growers in the Western and Northern Cape. These two provinces annually export about seven million cartons to the US,” said Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele, CEO of the CGA, in a statement this week.
“The CGA has asked President Ramaphosa to urgently facilitate an extension of the current 10% US tariff beyond 1 August,” the statement said.
What this means for you
This is but one example of many of how Trump’s ham-fisted trade policies will backfire on the US while hurting foreign industries. Trump likes to play a zero-sum game, but there are no winners here. US consumers, South African farmers and their employees all stand to lose.
For producers in the Western and Northern Cape, the clock is ticking.
“Seasonal fresh produce is perishable and cannot be stored for extended periods, like other trade products. The midpoint of the 2025 export season has just passed, which means hundreds of thousands of cartons of citrus are ready in pack houses to be shipped to the US over the next few weeks. The implementation of a 30% tariff on 1 August will mean most of this fruit will be left unsold,” the CGA said.
The fruit will not be wasted - charitable donations are an option but US consumers will lose out. Citrus is a seasonal winter crop, and US markets need produce from the Southern Hemisphere when it is summer up north.
“South African citrus growers do not pose a threat to US growers or jobs, as the produce sustains demand when local US citrus is out of season, benefiting US consumers,” the CGA said. DM