Trump’s threat to cut aid to South Africa could harm white farmers — Reuters reports

Donald Trump’s threat to cut aid to South Africa over its land reform policies has sparked concerns that trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) may be next.

Ironically, such a move could hurt the white farmers Trump claims to support, Reuters reports.

AGOA grants South Africa tariff-free quotas on key agricultural exports such as wine, citrus, soybeans, sugar cane, and beef.

The trade deal accounts for about a quarter of South Africa’s US$15 billion annual trade with the U.S., far outweighing the US$440 million in U.S. aid received in 2023.

“It is not clear whether the exporters are Black or white; we don’t record such data,” Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, told Reuters. However, he noted that only 10 percent of farm output comes from Black farmers.

Most white farmers likely have significant exposure to the U.S. market, Sihlobo said. U.S.-bound exports make up 4 percent of South Africa’s agricultural trade—about $450 million annually—compared to 19 percent for the EU and 38 percent for the rest of Africa.

Citrus and wine producers are particularly vulnerable. Citrus exports to the U.S. totaled $134 million in 2022, about 7 percent of the sector’s revenue, while the U.S. ranks as South Africa’s fourth-largest wine market, Reuters noted.

AGOA is up for review in September, and some U.S. Republicans are pushing to exclude South Africa over its land reform policies, genocide case against Israel, and military exercises with Russia and China.

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