According to the USDA’s post in Pretoria, Lovell took "his trade protectionist rhetoric to the people of South Africa", during an extensive round of media and press interviews.
The report claimed Lovell had "demonised" the US poultry industry, and had been trying to convince South African consumers that "the continued imposition of punitive antidumping duties against US poultry products are somehow good for South Africa".
It added that, recently, Lovell had even been disparaging of the US’ provision of preferential duties to South African goods, under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), and had labelled the US as a "bully" because it wanted fair access to the South African market for its poultry products.
The country has been imposing antidumping duties on US poultry since 2000, when South Africa was only importing around 70,000 tons of chicken. However, demand for poultry has increased significantly and the country now imports more than 400,000 tons, which demonstrates that local supply is not meeting demand, according to the report.
AGOA was passed by the US Congress in 2000, and is now up for renewal, but South Africa’s treatment of US poultry imports has become an issue in the congressional debate on the subject. It has been called into question whether the country meets one of the key requirements of AGOA, which is to work towards eliminating barriers to US trade and investment "and resolving bilateral trade and investment disputes".
The US poultry industry and the US government have also questioned whether the methodology used by South Africa to calculate antidumping duties is consistent with international law, stating that it has successfully challenged China in a previous WTO case, when it attempted to use the same type of methodology.