The US decision to modify its reciprocal tariffs and exempt some food products is a positive step towards easing agricultural trade friction, which is costly to exporting countries as well as US consumers.
The exempted products include coffee and tea, fruit juices, cocoa, spices, avocados, bananas, coconuts, guavas, limes, oranges, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, various peppers and tomatoes, beef and additional fertilisers.
The US government took this positive policy step to protect US consumers from higher prices resulting from the tariffs. In a way, this is a recognition that tariffs are a tax on consumers in importing countries while also weighing on exporters. It seems that these products will no longer be covered under the “liberation day” tariff levels, making access to the US market much easier for various exporters.
South Africa is an exporter of various agricultural products to the US, including citrus products, table grapes, macadamia nuts, wine, ostrich products and ice cream. It appears that oranges, macadamia nuts and fruit juices will benefit from the exemption. The US accounts for about 4% of South Africa’s agricultural exports, valued at $13.7bn 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-on-year increase in South Africa’s agricultural exports to the US in that quarter, reaching $161m.
Concerns remain that the higher tariffs will weigh on agricultural product exports, particularly those not covered by these modified rates, such as table grapes, macadamia nuts and wine, among others. South Africa is entering the table grape export season, and access to the US market is a challenge due to tariffs on local produce being higher than those imposed on South African competitors.
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Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, Nelisiwe Tshabalala and Amanda Murimba produce this podcast