Higher tariffs are a tax on consumers in importing countries. American consumers are experiencing this reality through relatively higher food prices in the country since the Liberation Day tariffs were introduced earlier this year.
Confronted by this reality, the US government has taken steps to modify its reciprocal tariffs and exempt certain food products. This is likely to ease pressure on consumers over time and benefit the exporting countries. South Africa is one of the countries that will benefit from the easing of the US government’s policy step.
Exempted products
The exempted products include coffee and tea, fruit juices, cocoa and spices, as well as avocados, bananas, coconuts, guavas, limes, oranges, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, various peppers and tomatoes, beef and additional fertilisers.
The US government’s decision to exempt some food products from these higher Liberation Day tariffs is a recognition of the policy mistake and the unintended consequences of higher prices on households.
South Africa is an exporter of various agricultural products to the US, including citrus, table grapes, macadamia nuts, wine, ostrich products and ice cream.
It appears that oranges, macadamia nuts and fruit juices will benefit from the exemption. This will leave other agricultural industries, such as those producing table grapes, wine, ostrich products and ice cream, still facing higher tariffs.
The US is generally an essential market to South African agriculture, although at a national level the percentage share seems small. Certain regions of South Africa, such as the Western Cape, have significantly greater exposure.
The US accounts for about 4% of South Africa’s agricultural exports, valued at $13.7-billion in 2024.
In the second quarter of 2025, South African agricultural exporters took advantage of the temporary tariff pause and front-loaded their products. This resulted in a 26% year-over-year increase in South Africa’s agricultural exports to the US in the second quarter, reaching $161-million.
Where to from here?
There remain concerns that the higher tariffs will weigh on agricultural product exports, particularly those not covered in these modified rates, such as table grapes and wine.
South Africa is entering the table grape export season, and access to the US market remains a challenge due to higher tariffs compared with South African competitors.
South Africa currently faces a 30% import tariff in the US market. If the country were to be in a position where the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which offers South Africa and other African countries lower duty access into the US, were not renewed, we would face slightly higher tariffs.
South Africa would be likely to face about 33% tariffs if we also account for the previous Most Favoured Nations Tariff rates before the Liberation Day tariffs. These would make access to the US market more challenging for various agricultural products, as competitors such as Chile and Peru face significantly lower tariffs of about 10%, making them more price-competitive than South Africa.
Beyond these modifications, we understand that the South African government continues to negotiate for better tariff access in the US market.
Still, these negotiations, as seen in many countries, are proving to be challenging. For example, the US has imposed significantly higher tariff rates on several countries, including the EU and Japan, which face tariffs of between 15% and 20% even after the “new deals”.
These higher tariffs illustrate that the path ahead will be challenging for South Africa as the country negotiates, still in the process of mending its foreign relations with the US, which typically spreads misinformation about the lies of genocide in South Africa.
For exporting industries in agriculture and specific sectors of the economy, some concern remains, since the recent modification only benefits a few agricultural industries and does not address the overall exposure of the sector to the US.
Beyond the US, South Africa’s agricultural exports to other parts of the world remain robust. Better access in the US will be an addition to the ambitions of widening export markets to help the growth of the sector. DM