by GAWAIN KRIPKE
PHOTO/Scott Olson/Getty Images/Chicago Tribune
When it comes to US poultry, President Obama is picking the wrong fight – he should be working to improve the sector, not export our pathology.
The US and South Africa have been engaged in a slow-burn chicken war for years. US exporters have been frustrated by restrictions that South Africa has put on US poultry. It was a significant issue in negotiations around the renewal of the African trade preferences bill – the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) – in the US Congress, with some “chicken-hawks” threatening to drop South Africa from the benefits of US trade preferences. Under pressure, the South African poultry industry negotiated a deal with the US industry to accept 650,000 tons of US poultry exports, and South Africa was included in the AGOA renewal. It seemed the problem was solved.
But there have been delays. And as a result, President Obama dropped a bomb last week by notifying Congress that he would dump South Africa from the US trade preferences program in 60 days.
It’s a pretty heavy-handed tactic, and it reveals the ugly, raw truth about US trade policy: even our trade programs meant to assist developing countries are often thinly-veiled efforts to promote US commercial interests. It’s worth remembering that South Africa is not a rich country. It has a per-capita income about one-quarter that of the United States, and despite what the images of its modern cities might tell you, it remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. Thus, economically, South Africa is quite fragile and is currently experiencing massive protests and turmoil.
Dumping South Africa from agricultural preference under AGOA could have significant economic consequences. A quick review shows that South Africa exports $1.5-2 billion annually to the US under the AGOA program. And while the biggest chunks are automobiles and minerals, agricultural exports make up about $150 million annually, including wine, nuts and citrus.
All Africa for more