Which came first — the chicken or Trump’s tariffs?
Trump's ‘America First’ strategy, and imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium, has re-ignited the poultry clash, threatening nearly $2bn worth of South African exports to the US
Herman Pretorius is just the kind of white South African farmer US President Donald Trump expressed concern for when he barged into the country’s delicate land-reform debate by ordering an investigation into the "large-scale killing of farmers". But for the Pretorius, wading knee-deep through some 35,000 chickens at his isolated homestead in the North West, it’s the US and its cheap poultry exports that are a threat. "We cannot compare our chickens with theirs. The price difference will kill us." For years, the two countries have fought over poultry: Washington has kept South African poultry out on health and sanitation grounds while Pretoria accuses US farmers of dumping chicken at below-cost prices and has imposed tariffs. But in 2015, SA’s powerful poultry industry agreed to exclude 65,000 tonnes of US chicken from the anti-dumping tariff — in return for the renewal of broader, duty-free US trade access that benefited other South African industries. Now, as a consequence of his "...
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