Farmers in the Eastern Cape are concerned by the possibility of major job losses as a result of the recent US-SA trade adjustment, which imposes a 30% tariff on SA exports entering the US market.
Should President Cyril Ramaphosa’s behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Trump administration fall flat, Agri-Eastern Cape president Pieter Cloete has called for provincial producers to source alternative markets.
Cloete’s comments came after the provincial farmers’ association held a two-day congress in Jeffreys Bay last week, just as Washington’s levies kicked in for more than 80 countries worldwide.
As this unfolded, nearly a hundred provincial agricultural role players from various industries within the sector deliberated on the latest developments that are set to reshape the outlook of the sector, said to be the bread and butter of the Eastern Cape.
“There are a wide range of industries that will be hit — your citrus, red meat, ostrich skin and many more,” Cloete said after the congress.
Long term, if nothing changes, there will be job cuts in the industry
“We’re worried about the automotive sector in the province because this will have a huge effect on the employment rate and people who buy our products. Long term, if nothing changes, there will be job cuts in the industry.
“I don’t think anyone will be radical and do something overnight, and no one will simply retrench all their employees at once, but for business to remain sustainable there will certainly be retrenchments and they will be across the province.
“Everyone is already looking at other options.
“You need to realise that with trade agreements, you don’t just turn the ship around when it is already on the water, we need to be patient and see which way this thing pans out.”
On Sunday, in what could negatively impact the agricultural sector, global shipping company Maersk announced it will no longer offer direct shipments between SA and the US.
From 1 October 2025, Maersk will transition to a transhipment model, rerouting goods through European hubs before they reach US ports.
This according to Cloete, will directly impact the agricultural sector. “More time is money,” Cloete said.
The ostrich farming industry on the Karoo border between the Eastern and Western Cape provinces had seen a slow recovery in recent years after it was hit by devastating round of bird flu in 2011.
Now it is set to be hugely affected by the recent tariffs as exports of ostrich leather to the US account for about 20% of Cape Karoo International’s leather sales.
In the US, the leather is supplied to cowboy boot manufacturers such as Justin Boot, Lucchese and Anderson Bean, according to Cape Karoo International managing director Francois de Wet.
He said the industry should be exempt from the tariffs.
“Since there is no local ostrich industry in the US, these manufacturers rely entirely on SA for raw material — in this case, ostrich leather — for their production.
“We therefore strongly believe that ostrich leather should be exempt from the new tariffs, as there is no domestic alternative and the industry is dependent on imports,” De Wet said.
“At present, our clients still have sufficient stock.
“However, in the medium term, we will need to engage with our partners to negotiate how the 30% tariff will be absorbed across the supply chain — by us as exporters, as well as the importers, manufacturers in the US, retail outlets and, ultimately, the US consumer.
“That said, this is easier said than done. It is simply not possible for us to absorb the full 30% tariff on our own.
“While we do not anticipate any immediate or medium-term job losses, these tariffs will inevitably hurt Cape Karoo International — and if our business suffers, it will affect the entire value chain, including ostrich farmers and, ultimately, farm workers.
“Furthermore, exports of ostrich feathers to the US represent about 14% of our total feather sales.
“As with leather, we are currently in discussions with our clients in the US to determine how the newly imposed tariffs will be shared across the supply chain.”
The region’s chicory sector has already been decimated, with Chicory SA, based in Alexandria and the town’s former biggest employer, closed in 2024 after markets crashed and left about 1,000 jobless.
South Africa’s largest pineapple processor, Summerpride Foods, centred in Bathurst with its processing plant in East London, said they were safe from Trump’s onslaught.
“We are not affected because we export to South America and Europe, so our industry will not be directly affected,” Summerpride Fruit manager Pierre Tilney said.
The province’s citrus industry, primarily located in the Sarah Baartman district, will not be directly affected by the tariffs since the Western and Northern Cape are the only two provinces that export to the US. These growers will now be diverting to other markets, which will have a knock-on effect on the Eastern Cape. This is according to Citrus Growers’ Association chief executive Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele.
Ntshabele urged the government to focus on securing a mutually beneficial trade deal with the US, or an exemption for seasonal fresh produce.
“Brazilian orange juice has been exempted from US tariffs. This is good news for citrus in general and hopefully points towards a precedent for SA.
“Quality, fresh South African citrus plays a significant role in ensuring a year-round supply of citrus for US consumers, and in avoiding possible citrus price increases in the US.
“We urge the US to take this into account, as well as the fact that we supply citrus when the US growers themselves are out of season.”
SA Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said SA needs to increase its efforts in two areas: retaining existing markets in various regions of the world and expanding access in new places.
“This is not a signal to deprioritise the US, but a preparation for the evolving world that we live in.
“These processes involve both the effective deployment of the skill set in the government and openness to new ideas from other stakeholders in society, such as business and academia, among others,” he said.
Speaking during the ANC’s Joe Gqabi regional elective conference at the weekend, premier Oscar Mabuyane said SA was at the “cliff-edge of a historic economic rupture”.
He said the tariffs were aimed at disciplining SA’s sovereign foreign policy position and its “refusal to be folded into Washington’s ideological script”.
“The implications will cascade from the national level right down to municipalities such as those in this district.
“Comrades, let us be clear: when America sneezes, rural SA catches pneumonia.
“The domino effect of SA’s potential removal from Agoa and the introduction of suffocating trade tariffs will be felt most intensely at the coalface of our economy.“Our small farms that supply the export agri-markets, our motor component manufacturers that feed into export-oriented value chains, our transport corridors and logistics hubs that depend on regional integration and global demand — they will all feel it,” he said.
Mabuyane said the tariffs would suffocate thousands of jobs in the province, and would do so swiftly.
“We must therefore respond politically and pragmatically.
“Our local economic development strategies must be fundamentally overhauled to reflect the new geopolitical climate.
“Local government must become a laboratory of economic resilience,” he added.
Daily Dispatch
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