Press Statement by Dr. Thomas Funke, CEO of SA Canegrowers
April 14, 2025
Note to Editors: Soundbite and Photos available upon request
SA Canegrowers, along with many other agricultural producers, urge the South African government to continue to prioritise negotiations with the US on tariff reductions and exemptions to help create certainty in the agricultural industry.
Although the punitive 30% export tariff on South Africa has been suspended for 90 days, a 10% blanket tariff still remains in place.
Even a 10% tariff on exports has negative consequences for South African sugarcane growers and the rural economies that depend on sugar production for jobs and livelihoods.
The US does not produce sufficient volumes of sugar to meet its domestic demand, and it therefore relies on imports to fill these gaps. Up to now, the US has had a system in place to allocate import quotas to sugar-producing countries. This system was designed by the US to serve their local demand, both for US households and industrial users of sugar.
The US is a significant market for South Africa’s sugar exports, with over 24 000 tonnes being exported annually, as much as the current quota allows. Any new tariff structure, whether 10% or 30%, threatens the viability of this mechanism by increasing production and transport costs and makes the industry less competitive.
South Africa is one of the world’s major sugar-producing countries, but when competing against countries in closer proximity to the US market, like Brazil and Mexico, the tariff structure is tilted off balance and rendered unfair.
Any increases in US tariff structure disrupts a long- standing quota- based trade mechanism and will place US security of supply under threat, as including South Africa in the quota helps protect against supply disruptions that may occur when other sugar-exporting countries experience drought or disasters that limit their production.
South Africa’s sugar industry supports one million livelihoods. Sugarcane growers provide vital jobs and stability in rural KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Any tariff hike, be it 10% or 30%, threatens to undo years of progress toward economic inclusion and rural development. Both large-scale and small-scale growers are exposed to the price and demand volatility in the export market. The industry is already under pressure from rising input costs, the sugar tax, and climate variability.
We call on South Africa’s trade and agricultural authorities to urgently engage with their US counterparts to review any further damaging tariffs for the US and South Africa. It is important for the industry to build resilience against such global market volatility and uncertainty.
The South African sugar industry is a key employer in South Africa and deserves a fair chance to compete internationally.
Ends
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