Letter to Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa - Drop Ban on U.S. Poultry
Letter
President Jacob Zuma
Pretoria, South Africa 0001
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your participation in the African Leaders Summit in August in Washington, D.C. It was an honor to have you and your delegation here to share your experiences and discuss issues and opportunities for both of our nations.
One issue that is of great importance to both of us and our states is that of poultry trade. We have been closely following developments in regards to poultry trade with South Africa, and were pleased to hear of the meeting between the U.S. and South African poultry industries on September 17th. Furthermore, we were pleased to see news articles in the press here and in South Africa reporting that the South African poultry industry is prepared to make concessions to open their market.
The antidumping duties South Africa has levied on U.S. poultry have been in place for fourteen years, effectively blocking our companies from accessing your market. As the Chair of the African Affairs Subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Ranking Member of the International Trade Subcommittee on the Senate Finance Committee, we are committed to broadening and sustaining the U.S.--South Africa relationship, and to resolving this poultry trade situation by the elimination of the antidumping duties. We believe there is great opportunity for the U.S. to further investment in the South African poultry industry, as well as build partnerships between our poultry industries and universities in ways that can be beneficial for all involved.
We understand that our trade officials recently discussed the ongoing negotiations regarding poultry, as well as other market access issues for other U.S. exports to South Africa. We strongly encourage you to pursue solutions expeditiously that guarantee market access for U.S. poultry. As you know, Congress is in the process of considering reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). We urge you to ensure that conversations continue to make progress towards eliminating the antidumping duties on U.S. poultry and that this issue is resolved before Congress takes up AGOA reauthorization, which could be early next year. We will need to reconsider the extension of duty preferences under AGOA for South Africa if this situation is not resolved.
We look forward to continuing to work with you to address this important issue.
Sincerely,
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