Documents & Reports

The 2012 Trade Policy Agenda and 2011 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program are submitted to the Congress pursuant to Section 163 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2213). Chapter II and Annex II of this document meet the requirements of Sections 122 and 124 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act with respect to the World Trade Organization. In addition, the report also includes an annex listing trade agreements entered into by the United States since 1984. Trade data for 2011, where listed, are annualized based on January to November data. Services data by country are only available through 2009. 

US strategy towards SSA - as announced on 14 June 2012 during the 2012 US-Africa AGOA Forum held in Washington.

2008 Comprehensive Report on US Trade and Investment Policy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act

This report examines factors that contributed to the shift in global export patterns in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during 2002-2006 for 11 industries: coffee; shea butter; spices (primarily vanilla, cloves, pepper, and ginger); tropical fruit (primarily bananas and pineapples); footwear; natural rubber; processed diamonds; textiles; wood furniture; aviation services; and communication services.

The Commission's determinations on denim fabric and estimates of the amount of regional African denim fabric that will be available during the 12-month period beginning October 1, 2007, for use in less developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries in the production of denim apparel receiving U.S. duty free treatment.

Short explanatory guide to the legislative process of United States Miscellaneous Trade Bills.

The 2007 Comprehensive Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the 7th annul report in this series. The current report builds on the information provided in previous reports, providing new and updated information on U.S. trade and investment policy toward sub-Saharan Africa, including the implementation of AGOA, the designation of AGOA beneficiary countries, the impact that AGOA has had on U.S. trade and investment with sub-Saharan Africa, and information on reforms being undertaken by AGOA beneficiary countries.

First annual report by the USITC examining factors that affected trade patterns in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during 2001–05. Twelve industries are discussed: nuts (primarily cashews), cocoa butter and paste, cut flowers, prepared and preserved fish, acyclic alcohols, flat-rolled steel, petroleum gases (primarily liquefied natural gas), textiles and apparel (primarily apparel), unwrought aluminum, wood veneer, financial services, and tourism services.

The 6th annual report on US trade and investment with Africa.

Factsheet published by the USTR on recent US-Africa trade under AGOA.

New 156-page AGOA Competitiveness Report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). This report, which covers each of 37 AGOA beneficiary countries (at the time), provides an assessment on potential export growth sectors, major challenges to export growth, trade barriers as well as recommendations for Technical Assistance (TA).

This is the 5th annual report on US trade and investment with Africa.

USITC report (declassified in January 2004) assessing the competitiveness of various textile and apparel supply-countries to the US market. As requested by the USTR, the report assesses the textile and apparel industries of certain foreign suppliers to the U.S. market with respect to their competitiveness and other factors pertinent to their adjustment to the final completion of the phaseout of quotas on January 1, 2005, as required by the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). This report assesses the textile and apparel industries of (1) significant ATC suppliers to the U.S. market, (2) Mexico, and (3) other supplying countries with preferential market access. The Commission’s analysis also addresses factors such as textile and apparel consumption, production, employment, and prices in major exporting countries, as well as their textile and apparel trade, particularly with industrial country markets. An executive summary, as well as Chapter 3 ("Assessment of the Competitiveness of the Textile and Apparel Sector in selected Countries") is available for separate download elsewhere on this page.

Chapter 3 of the recently de-classified report by the USITC ("Textiles and Apparel: Assessment of the Competitiveness of Certain Foreign Suppliers to the US Market").

This is the 10-page executive summary of a report assessing the competitiveness of various textile and apparel supply-countries to the US market. A full version of this recently declassified report is also available for download elsewhere on this page.

Transcript of testimony on AGOA by the president of the Corporate Council on Africa to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

This is the 5th annual report on US trade and investment with Africa. The current report provides an update for 2003 on U.S.-SSA trade and investment flows in major sectors; information on AGOA; a discussion of major developments in trade and economic policies significant to U.S.-SSA bilateral trade and investment; an update on progress in regional integration in SSA; and a compilation of multilateral assistance, U.S. bilateral assistance, and trade-related initiatives related to SSA. The report contains economic profiles for each of the 48 countries of SSA and sector profiles for six major SSA sectors: agriculture, fisheries, and forest products; chemicals and related products; petroleum and energy-related products; minerals and metals; textiles and apparel; and certain transportation equipment.

Executive Summary of the annual trade and investment report, published December 2004. (Publication 3741)

A report prepared for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. "The programme's duty-free benefits appear to offer only a slight improvement over the status quo for most African exports," says the report. Nonetheless, AGOA appears to be the most comprehensive of three regional preferential programmes that are more generous than the GSP. A higher share of imports from AGOA countries entered the United States on a preferential basis in 2001 than did imports from the beneficiary countries of the Caribbean Basin Initiative and Andean Trade Preferences Act, for instance.

The second of of eight annual reports published by the Office of the US Trade Representative on Trade and Investment under AGOA.

This is the third of eight annual reports published by the Office of the US Trade Representative on Trade and Investment under AGOA. It provides chapters entitled 'Economic and Trade Overview', 'Trade capacity Building', 'Technical Assistance and Other AGOA-related Initiatives', 'AGOA Country Reports' and others.

This is the 4th annual report on US trade and investment with Africa. The current report provides an update for 2002 on U.S.-SSA trade and investment flows in major sectors; information on AGOA; a discussion of major developments in trade and economic policies significant to U.S.-SSA bilateral trade and investment; an update on progress in regional integration in SSA; and a compilation of multilateral assistance, U.S. bilateral assistance, and trade-related initiatives related to SSA. The report contains economic profiles for each of the 48 countries of SSA and sector profiles for six major SSA sectors: agriculture, fisheries, and forest products; chemicals and related products; petroleum and energy-related products; minerals and metals; textiles and apparel; and certain transportation equipment.

A brief report prepared by the US Department of Commerce, Office of Africa, on bilateral trade between the US and Africa.

Classification of United States customs districts and ports for US foreign trade. This appendix provides a complete listing of valid district/port codes of the U.S., and is important information for exporters and shipping agencies.

Congress, the Administration, and other stakeholders continue to be involved in serious efforts to improve upon the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was first signed into law a decade ago, on May 18, 2000. To meet its objective of enhancing U.S. market access for subSaharan African countries that are pursuing market reforms measures, the AGOA preferential trade legislation was designed to encourage and support countries in this region ―that are taking often difficult but critical steps necessary to create more open, market and growth-oriented economies.‖1 AGOA eligibility currently extends to 38 African countries, with some benefitting from exports of natural resources such as oil and minerals, while others have been able to develop textile and apparel industries in which goods are more easily manufactured and exported without barriers to market in the United States. Nigeria and Angola are leading oil producers and suppliers to the U.S.; these two countries alone accounted for 80 percent of all AGOA imports in 2008. In contrast, the value of agricultural exports to the United States from 14 other AGOA-eligible countries was less than $1 million in 2009. In fact, three of these countries – Namibia, Seychelles, and Chad had less than $100,000 in agricultural exports under AGOA in 2009 (see Annex A).

Two new concepts that emerge from the Mod Act are “informed compliance” and “shared responsibility,” which are premised on the idea that in order to maximize voluntary compliance with laws and regulations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the trade community needs to be clearly and completely informed of its legal obligations. Accordingly, the Mod Act imposes a greater obligation on CBP to provide the public with improved information concerning the trade community's rights and responsibilities under customs regulations and related laws. In addition, both the trade and U.S. Customs and Border Protection share responsibility for carrying out these requirements. For example, under Section 484 of the Tariff Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1484), the importer of record is responsible for using reasonable care to enter, classify and determine the value of imported merchandise and to provide any other information necessary to enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection to properly assess duties, collect accurate statistics, and determine whether other applicable legal requirements, if any, have been met. CBP is then responsible for fixing the final classification and value of the merchandise. An importer of record’s failure to exercise reasonable care could delay release of the merchandise and, in some cases, could result in the imposition of penalties.

Guide to the importation into the United States of commercial samples