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Today, President Donald J. Trump issued a proclamation regarding Rwanda that enforces the eligibility criteria established by Congress for trade preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).  This proclamation suspends the application of duty-free treatment for all apparel products from Rwanda.   “We regret this outcome and hope it is temporary,” said Deputy United States Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney. “But if the AGOA eligibility criteria are to have any meaning, they have to be...

Kenya’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives has launched the Kenya National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Strategy and Action Plan (2018-2023) alongside Kenya’s National Export Development and Promotion Strategy.  The new National AGOA Strategy outlines actions for priority sectors to increase the country’s exports to the U.S. by 10.4 percent annually. In 2017, Kenya exported goods worth $572 million to the United States.  By 2023, the strategy projects that Kenya’s U.S. exports will reach $1,105...

Opinion piece: Concerns remain following a recently concluded two-day conclave on July 11-12 in Washington DC, in which delegates deliberated on mutually beneficial trade and investment opportunities under the banner of the 17th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum. The forum, which brought together representatives from the US and eligible African countries to forge new strategies for deepening US-Africa trade and investment, occurred at a time when the international trade order is at a crossroads. There are doubts about the...

The Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Hon. Peter Munya has lauded the 2nd Kenya Trade Week and Exposition forum at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, the CS lauded the forum for bringing together both private and public sector players to chat ways of bridging Kenya’s imports and exports gap. He emphasised the importance of Buy Kenya, Build Kenya which aims at promoting consumption of Kenya made products besides spurring production and enhancing job...

South Africa is to launch a lawsuit against the US, arguing that proposed US tariffs on South African motor car imports will violate South Africa’s rights under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). SA’s Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that “interested groups” planned to challenge this latest US move in a growing global trade war.  Davies told journalists at the BRICS Forum in Sandton that the international trade war, launched by US President Donald Trump, was “no longer a phony war. The first shots have...

Spare a thought for Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, who will have a tough job convincing the US not to impose possible export duties on vehicle and component exports. He has already lost the battle to have SA excluded from US President Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat trade war with China, with duties imposed on steel and aluminium. With vehicles and components, however, the stakes are higher. Of all the sectors Davies’s department has been punting for a revival in local manufacturing, it has been by far the most successful, with...

South Africa has raised its concern with the US government about possible duties on vehicle and vehicle component imports, pointing out that their imposition on South African exports would significantly erode the benefit the country is meant to enjoy under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Following its decision to impose import duties on steel (25%) and aluminium (10%), the US decided to investigate whether it should do likewise with regard to vehicles and car components under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The act...

South Africa’s steel and aluminium exports to the United States does not pose any threat to US national security, says Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. Davies was speaking during bilateral meetings in Washington DC with US Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and senators Chris Coons and Johnny Isakson, the trade and industry department (dti) said in a statement on Sunday. Davies said South Africa’s exports of steel to the US accounted for less than one percent of total US...

Kenya is banking on the modernisation of Rivatex factories and the adoption of high-yielding seeds to revive the ailing cotton sector. Through the upgrade, whose cost will add up to Sh3 billion by the end of the year, the textile firm targets to spur production from the current one tonne of lint, equivalent to 6,000 metres, to over 12 tonnes or 40,000 metres of finished products in a day, according to the firm. Rivatex currently consumes 10 bales of cotton daily, but this is expected to increase to 70 bales once the modernisation of the...

Joyce Akpata, director-general of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), has said the chamber is working closely with relevant stakeholders to promote the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Akpata, who stated this at a two-day Agro-Commodity Export Master Class organised by the chamber in partnership with Multimix Export House recently, said AGOA offers the potential of boosting commodity export from Sub-Saharan Africa to the United States. She said Nigeria is blessed with commodities for export and entrepreneurs can...

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies participated in the opening day of the 17th Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum being held in Washington DC from 11-12 July 2018 under the theme “Forging New Strategies for US-African Trade”. The Forum was preceded by the Africa Trade Ministers Consultative Meeting on 10 July 2018. In their remarks to the Forum, the African Ministers emphasised the strategic importance of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to African countries and the need for AGOA to...

SA has raised its concern with the US government about possible duties on vehicle and vehicle component imports, pointing out that their imposition on South African exports would significantly erode the benefit the country is meant to enjoy under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Following its decision to impose import duties on steel (25%) and aluminium (10%), the US decided to investigate whether it should do likewise with regard to vehicles and car components under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The act gives the US...

Delays in fulfilling orders were cited on Tuesday as the chief reason for Kenya's inability to take greater advantage of its apparel industry's duty-free access to the US market. Jas Bedi, the head of Kenya's Export Promotion Council, told a Washington audience that it takes an average of 135 days for goods to be delivered to US buyers from the time they place an order in Kenya. "That's too long in today's market," Mr Bedi said. China can fulfil orders from US purchasers in as little as 45 days, he noted. The 75 days it takes for fabric...

Welcome to this year’s AGOA Forum.  I am pleased to be with you all this morning.  The theme for this AGOA Forum is “Forging New Strategies for U.S. – Africa Trade and Investment.”  I’d like to spend my time with you addressing one very specific new strategy—the Trump Administration’s desire to negotiate a model free trade agreement with a sub-Saharan African country.   It has long been the desire of the United States for AGOA-beneficiary countries to advance to a point where it would be possible to...

DEPUTY SECRETARY SULLIVAN: Thank you, Robert, for that kind introduction, and good morning, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be with you this morning. On behalf of Secretary Pompeo, I’m honored to welcome you to the State Department. And on behalf of the United States Government, I’m delighted to open the 17th annual Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum. Before I proceed, I’d like to recognize our distinguished guests this morning: First, Ms. Bernadette Legzim-Balouki, the minister of commerce and promotion of...

This year the U.S Department of State is proud to host the 17th annual African Growth and Opportunities Act Forum, commonly known as AGOA, from July 11-12 in Washington, DC. This year's theme   "Forging New Strategies for U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment," reflects the U.S. commitment to boosting economic growth, spurring development, and reducing poverty in Africa through sustainable business practices and mutually beneficial trade relations. Enacted in 2002, AGOA brings together African and American government...