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Technical Officials from the East African Community (EAC) and the United States (U.S.) met 12 to 15 February 2014 in Bujumbura, Burundi to discuss Trade Africa and the EAC - U.S. Trade and Investment Partnership (TIP). In particular, the Technical Officials discussed among others, the Ministerial guidance provided in August 2013; AGOA; Regional Investment Treaty; Trade Facilitation; Trade Capacity Building, and Commercial Dialogue. Both Parties reviewed a summary of the last EAC - U.S. Trade Ministerial Meeting held on the sidelines of the...

US poultry producers are lobbying their government to withdraw South Africa's duty-free access in retaliation for anti-dumping duties, which they say are unfair. South Africa enjoys duty-and quota-free access to the US market for about 6,800 product lines, in part thanks to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants most African countries preferential market access without any reciprocity required for US goods. Latest available figures show South Africa exports to the US under Agoa totalled $3.7bn (R40.8bn) in...

In what could be a 'breakthrough' for both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU), the EU announced that "the two entities reached a deal at the level of senior officials on EPAs, more than a decade after negotiations began. A final meeting to officially endorse the deal as it stands is foreseen in Brussels for early February. It will then have to be endorsed by West African Heads of State."   While similar reports in the past were premature, there is strong evidence that this may be correct...

The United States Government is going to conduct a special review for continuation of benefits under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) to Swaziland this year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). Under the AGOA, the US grants duty-free access of specific products, including textiles and clothing, from African countries to its market. AGOA contains specific criteria that countries must meet to enjoy the benefits of AGOA, including criteria related to internationally recognized workers’...

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Kwesi  Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has restated  government’s commitment  to supporting the African Bureau of the United States of America’s Chamber of Commerce to expand Ghana’s trade with the US. The Vice President, who was speaking at the opening of the 4th Annual Africa American Chamber of Commerce Summit in Accra, yesterday, observed that in the Africa-US trade, the US side had many advantages, such as developed structures which guaranteed US investors, but no attention was...

Businesses in the country have not made the most of the enormous opportunities that the United States government’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) presents, Haruna Iddrisu, Trade and Industry Minister, has said. AGOA is the US government’s trade initiative with 39 sub-Saharan African countries. There are over 7,000 products that are available under the AGOA and Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) list to enter the United States duty-free. The programme has spurred the export of processed agricultural products,...

Kenya's Export Processing Zones (EPZ) earned the East African country $543 million in the last financial year, a government official said on Tuesday. Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) CEO Cyrille Nabutola told Xinhua in Nairobi that the zones contributed 10 percent of all exports. "The bulk of the exports consisted of textile and apparels and U. S. was the major destination," Nabutola said during the pre- budget hearings for the 2014/2015 financial year. "In fact, Kenya has now overtaken Lesotho to emerge as the largest textile...

The United States deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Bisa Williams, yesterday announced that as a cornerstone of the US Africa policy, with many nations across the continent embracing democracy, they would like to work with the government of The Gambia and civil society to create a better environment for political discourse, adding that an engaged citizenry in the political process will also improve the country's economic and social development. She further stated that democracy also calls for respect for human rights...

Braving the bitter cold of New York City, the East Africa Trade Hub (EATH) attended its third Texworld USA textiles and apparel exhibition. Held January 21-23, the goal of the Texworld is to introduce international producers of textiles and apparel to buyers from around the world. As part of its ongoing Origin Africa campaign to make African producers a top option for U.S. buyers, the Trade Hub showcased samples from 15 different manufacturers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius, and Ethiopia.   Over the 3-day event, the Origin...

A new alliance has been formed with the aim of expanding trade and investment in the cotton textile and apparel sectors between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), and the African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF) are to work together to promote Africa as a reliable sourcing destination for international buyers. They also plan to explore opportunities to promote US trade and investment in...

Ambassador Girma Birru, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to the United States and current co-chair of the AGOA Ambassadors' Working Group in Washington, testified on Tuesday to the United States International Trade Commission. The Commission is holding hearings on issues relating to the reauthorization of the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Ambassador Girma told the Commission that AGOA remained the central pillar of US-Africa trade and economic cooperation, and embodied "our joint aspiration that...

National chicken council representative Bill Roenigk has addressed the US International Trade Commission with concerns regarding trade acts which oppose US poultry trade in Africa. In 2000, the same year that the United States extended special duty preferences to many of the Republic of South Africa's exports under AGOA, South Africa imposed antidumping duties on US poultry. Prior to 2000, the US industry enjoyed a modest but respectable export market of approximately 55,000 metric tons annually.  Since 2000, the US poultry has been...

On January 14, Witney Schneidman testified before the USITC on the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) renewal, which is set to expire in 2015. Dear Secretary: Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on the four investigations related to the AGOA renewal discussions.  My short testimony will offer selective comments on three of the four investigations. Tax Incentives: As it concerns the first investigation, AGOA: Trade and Performance Overview, an overriding concern is how investments by the EU, China, Brazil and...

On Monday 30 December, President Obama made his annual determination regarding country eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2014.  In addition to continuing the eligibility of the 39 current beneficiary countries, the President reinstated Mali’s eligibility for AGOA benefits.  The Republic of Mali will be a beneficiary country under AGOA effective January 1, 2014.  With the addition of Mali, 40 of the 49 potentially eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa are now eligible to receive benefits...

Signed into law by President Clinton on May 18, 2000 and subsequently expanded, the African Growth and Opportunity Act ( AGOA) is a unilateral system of trade preferences that allows thousands of  types of goods produced in Sub-Saharan Africa  to be imported duty-free to the United States. AGOA is widely perceived to be a success, albeit a limited one. From 2001 to 2011, the aggregate amount of exports from Africa to the United States under AGOA increased from $8 billion to $54 billion; the number of countries participating grew...

Today, a group of bipartisan leaders from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to the U.S. Comptroller General requesting a study to examine the effectiveness of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in an effort to better increase investment, trade and job growth between African countries and the United States. The landmark AGOA legislation, passed in 2000, provides economic opportunities to countries that...