Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act
TRALAC - Trade Law Centre
You are here: Home/News/Article/The AGOA-chicken import debate 'is much bigger than it seems'

The AGOA-chicken import debate 'is much bigger than it seems'

The AGOA-chicken import debate 'is much bigger than it seems'
Published date:
Friday, 13 November 2015
Author:
TIM COHEN

President Jacob Zuma has come in for some sharp criticism for his statement that he serves the ANC first and foremost, over and above the country.

The criticism is justified; his oath of office legally binds him to serve the country first and only.

Notionally, the constitution is blind to political affiliation, though of course we all know politics is where all the important choices are made.

Actually, Zuma’s categorisation is not just a personal view; it’s common in the ANC. You can see examples everywhere, not least in Zuma’s other defining statement: that the ANC will rule until Jesus comes. It’s not just the supreme self-belief, it’s the righteous underpin. The religious analogy is apposite, since the idea of the ANC being more important than the country is akin to the religious notion of a chosen people.

The idea of the chosen party is the result of an amalgamation of the different ideologies that guide the ANC. There is a bit of communism there, since communists believe that anyone who does not agree with them is suffering a delusion of “false consciousness”. The religious aspect is also present, as I have mentioned. And the third element stems, I would guess, from traditionalism and the sanctity of the tribe. All of these undercurrent strands were hardened, perhaps calcified, during the struggle period, when bonds of affiliation really did matter.

There is one other ideological strand that fits into this picture: mercantilism.

Mercantilism, simply put, considers economic prosperity to be the result of trade profit. Because mercantilists believe that all trade is essentially a zero-sum game, the way to boost your economy is to erect great barriers, either physical or legal, to “protect” the industries of the realm. It’s no accident that mercantilism predominated during European absolutism between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Mercantilism threw the states of Europe into frantic bouts of shipbuilding, then specialist trade ports and ultimately colonialism, all in a frantic effort to get one over on each other. The result was nations divided, and ultimately massive wars as the game of nations gradually got out of hand.

Mercantilism has an insidious logic. After all, when two people engage in trade, surely one or the other is getting the better deal? So why not skew the balance to favour your side?

Adam Smith’s fabulous contribution to economics was exploding all these ideas. By understanding the systemic benefits to both parties to an exchange, Smith kicked economics onto a new path. His ideas were later expanded, proven, interrogated and finally, in the later part of the 20th century, adopted widely.

Yet mercantilism persists in remnant forms. It fits into the ANC’s ideological framework, because it’s allied to the idea of an absolutist party and state.

For those who think this is all inconsequential political mush, you only have to follow the debate about, of all things, chickens, to see mercantilism flying its flag today. In brief, the US, in an act of exemplary generosity, handed SA free access to its markets for close to 20 years. Recently, partly because SA’s trade balance with the US is tipped steeply in SA’s favour, it has sought some minor concessions, involving said chickens.

It’s tempting to believe that trade & industry minister Rob Davies, being a communist, would be against free trade, but in this case, I understand he is actually working hard to save the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Presumably, he is sensitive to the Agoa advantages SA gets in other industries.

The department of agriculture is in fact the sticking point, because it believes that small chicken farmers would lose out if SA allowed US chicken imports. So it has nixed trade & industry’s agreement by imposing bogus health regulations on US chicken.

And as for the idea that trade is inherently valuable, perish the thought.

Read related news articles

Remarks by Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo on the US-South Africa economic relationship

As Prepared for Delivery in Johannesburg, South Africa Thank you for the warm welcome. I want to express my gratitude to Consul General Spera and the American Chamber of Commerce for hosting me. I am honored to be joined today by South African Entrepreneurs that are building companies to unlock the economic potential of their country.  I owe my own presence here today to the inspiration I drew from South Africa. In the middle of the...

13 March 2024

South African president Ramaphosa meets with US congressional delegation

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 21 February 2024, received for a visit from a bipartisan congressional delegation from the United States of America, in Tuynhuys, Cape Town. The delegation is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Aspen Institute. The President and the US congressional delegation discussed the importance of the relationship between South Africa and the US, which manifests in strong economic,...

21 February 2024

US congress receives Bill to review South Africa relations

A bill has been submitted to the United States congress calling for a full review of the country’s bilateral relationship with South Africa following the International Court of Justice ruling that found it plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide against Gaza. The bipartisan bill which was introduced by US Republican congressman John James and Democratic Party congressman Jared Moskowitz this week could threaten South...

09 February 2024

Fitch research unit expects better AGOA deal for South Africa

Fitch’s research arm, BMI, believes SA has done enough to get improved trade terms under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), which it expects to be extended and modified before its expiry in September 2025. But it warns that the deal might be stillborn if Donald Trump is elected US president. The research think-tank said in a note it assigns a 65% probability that Agoa will not only be renewed but modified to the benefit of...

09 January 2024

South Africa: BLSA CEO calls for more companies to leverage AGOA opportunities

Many more South African companies could benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible countries access to US markets free of tariff barriers, business organisation BusinessLeadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. Apart from mainstream formal sector businesses, there are opportunities to enable more entrepreneurs, including women-led...

20 November 2023

US ambassador: AGOA is an opportunity to deepen ties between the US and South Africa

President Joe Biden last December at the US-Africa Leaders Summit affirmed that the US will elevate its relationship with Africa. The future is Africa. One example is its youthful population: the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people in the world will be in Africa. The US wants them to be healthy and wealthy. What happens in Africa will affect the rest of the globe — and we want to work together to ensure it is...

09 November 2023

US Senator Chris Coons proposes AGOA extension by 16 years, immediate review of SA’s AGOA eligibility

Powerful US Democratic Party Senator Chris Coons is circulating a discussion draft of a Bill to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for 16 years that would also require an immediate “out-of-cycle” review of South Africa’s eligibility for Agoa. That could lead to South Africa being removed next year from the programme, which has provided considerable benefits to SA exporters to the US of cars, fruits and wine, in...

07 November 2023

AGOA benefits extend beyond trade [incl. VIDEO of Friday's opening session]

Economies in Sub-Saharan countries stand to benefit far more from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) than notable trade statistics, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “AGOA enhances the diversification of African economies, enabling them to export value-added products. By enabling African countries to have preferential access to the US market, this opportunity incentivises African countries to develop and export value-added goods...

06 November 2023

South Africa pins its hopes on an early 2024 US Congress renewal of AGOA

South Africa’s government is hoping that the process to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) by the US Congress will be concluded by early 2024, ensuring that more than 20 African countries continue to have duty-free access to the world’s largest economy.   This is the first time that the South African government has given a timeline for when it hopes the US Congress might extend Agoa, which has been renewed twice...

05 November 2023

SA trade minister Patel expresses confidence at media briefing about South Africa’s continued inclusion in AGOA

Ahead of South Africa hosting the US-AfricaTrade and Economic Cooperation Forum – also called the AGOA Forum – from November 2 to 4, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on October 26 briefed the media on the state of readiness for the forum, expressing confidence that the South African government’s relations with the US were strong. Various South African stakeholders have been motivating for...

26 October 2023

Business Leadership SA calls for business to capitalise on South Africa’s hosting of AGOA Forum

It is notable that South Africa will still host the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Private Sector Forum next month, given that several US lawmakers have called for it to be moved elsewhere, and have questioned the country’s preferential trade terms with the US under Agoa as such preferential access to the US markets is open only to African countries that do not threaten American security interests. This is...

24 October 2023

You are here: Home/News/Article/The AGOA-chicken import debate 'is much bigger than it seems'