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South Africa has been warned to avoid “complacency” ahead of deliberations by US lawmakers on whether or not to extend the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond September 30, 2015 – the Act offers highly favourable, unilateral trade terms for African products entering the world’s largest economy.In fact, South African ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool has called for a broad-based coalition of government, business and labour to develop a strategy designed to ensure the extension of Agoa benefits for a “reasonable...

South Africa’s lucrative duty-free and quota-free access to the big US market remains in the balance despite US President Barack Obama’s administration’s assurances that it will do all it can to ensure that it continues after 2015.Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said the administration would do its “very best” to ensure that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would be extended when it expired in 2015, and that South Africa would continue to enjoy its benefits.International Relations and...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended her extensive trip to nine African nations, she announced the extension of favorable trade ties with Africa.Congress has voted to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s third country fabric provision until 2015. The act, known as AGOA, exempts a list of around 6,400 goods from being taxed when brought to the US market.“It signals the US commitment to deepening its commercial engagement in Africa,” said Witney Schneidman, a scholar at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, a...

Today, the President signed into law H.R. 5986, which includes key measures to bolster domestic manufacturing and strengthen our economic ties with sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. This bill also contains provisions to renew authorities under the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act. Congress passed this legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support. This bill addresses sub-Saharan Africa’s top trade priority with the United States by extending a key provision under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference...

Johannesburg — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Pretoria Tuesday spending time with her good friend, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and disproving suspicion that bilateral ties between South Africa and the United States have eroded in recent years.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed her trip to South Africa as the "centrepiece" of her visit to the African continent. Clinton arrived in South Africa Sunday amid much speculation about the exact nature of the relationship between South Africa and the United States.The...

Growing concern about possible exclusion has prompted the government and private sector to join forces to lobby for continued inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) preferential trade programme with the United States.The Act was signed into law under the Clinton administration in May 2000 and provides beneficiary countries in sub-Saharan Africa with liberal duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for more than 6000 product lines.Ninety-eight percent of South Africa’s exports enter the US market duty- and...

Cape Town - South Africa's next generation of leaders should honour the legacy of former president Nelson Mandela by promoting democratic values around the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.She also called on South Africa, which voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons programme from 1989, to use its long-standing links with Tehran to persuade Iran to reconsider its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.Clinton, speaking two days after visiting the 94-year-old Mandela, said South Africa's legacy of peacefully...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US is committed to extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which promotes African exports to the US, beyond its 2015 expiry date, and that "we want to see South Africa included in the new extension".Clinton was speaking to the media in Pretoria on Tuesday after she and International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane hosted the second annual US-South Africa Strategic Dialogue meeting.Clinton is on a four-day visit to South Africa, part of a marathon...

South Africa’s membership of the Brics bloc of Brazil, Russia, India and China should not prejudice its future inclusion as a beneficiary of the market-access benefits that would flow from any extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond September 30, 2015, a senior US government official said on Monday.Department of State Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Robert Hormats said Agoa had been extremely valuable, that he was strongly in favour of extending the benefits beyond 2015 and that the...

The South African government plans to negotiate with the US to amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as local textile and clothing companies are not benefiting from this trade agreement.The Agoa legislation, first passed by the US Congress in 2000, allows countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export goods to US markets without paying import duties. Although other goods can be exported, the legislation was especially designed for the apparel trade.Last week the US Congress extended the act, which had been due to expire in...

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says US companies should consider more long-term and strategic investment in Africa. In an interview after his address at the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) conference on Friday, Davies said US companies needed to take account of Africa's rising status as the "next growth frontier".More than 600 US companies invest in SA.AGOA is a unilateral trade preference programme enacted by the US in 2000."From SA's point of view we would like to see a roll-over of AGOA from its current form. We are...

The South African government would like an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for a reasonable amount of time, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said. "Our overall message as the South African government is that we would like to see a rollover, an extension of Agoa for a reasonable period of time, along more or less the architecture of Agoa at the moment," said Davies at the weekend. Agoa - which offers incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets --...

South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool , has welcomed the extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for another three years.Mr Rasool told a summit in Pretoria that Agoa was balanced and significantly beneficial to both parties.Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies urged US companies to consider more long-term and strategic investment in Africa.Mr Rasool said: "We are beginning to understand that the Agoa is not a one-way exercise of US kindness towards South Africa and Africa. It’s a two-way street, a...

The US Congress voted on Thursday to renew a trade measure supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in Africa's clothing sector, just two months before the measure expires. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the legislation on a voice vote, sending it to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), first passed by Congress in 2000, allows eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa to ship thousands of goods to the United States without paying import duties. A provision that...

Pretoria - Africa is emerging as the next economic growth powerhouse after Asia, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Friday.The continent's growth path had been boosted by major infrastructure development and improved financial governance, he told an Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) conference in Pretoria."It's widely and increasingly recognised that Africa is the next growth frontier. The whole world is being battered by the headwinds of the global economic crisis and (also) battered by the headwinds from the slowdown in...

US Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, praised the Senate's passage on Thursday of a bill to reauthorize the Third Country Fabric Provision of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is set to expire at the end of September. The Third Country Fabric Provision is seen as key to the United States' long-term trade relationship with Africa, which is currently home to six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies in the...

South Africa has been warned to avoid “complacency” ahead of deliberations by US lawmakers on whether or not to extend the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond September 30, 2015 – the Act offers highly favourable, unilateral trade terms for African products entering the world's largest economy.In fact, South Africa's ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool has called for a broad-based coalition of government, business and labour to develop a strategy designed at ensuring the extension of Agoa benefits for a "reasonable period"...

The AGOA Action Coalition and the Whitaker Group applaud the United States Congress on today’s renewal of the Third Country Fabric provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). We are truly grateful for the efforts of our friends and allies, both on and off Capitol Hill, who have worked together over the past year in a spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation to make this a reality.It is difficult to overstate the importance of this provision for the future of the US-Africa partnership. Over the course of many years and...

For more than a year now, members of the House and Senate have been at work to strike a deal that would extend a special provision in a little known trade law called AGOA – the African Growth and Opportunity Act.Today, in a display of bipartisan and bicameral unity, the Congress took a bold and positive step to extend that provision and in the process preserve Africa’s apparel industry and help U.S. companies promote the well-being of African families. In a Congress in short supply of agreement, we proved it is possible to pass...

Washington, DC - Today, the House passed a package of bipartisan trade legislation that: (1) extends the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) third-country fabric provisions through 2015 and adds South Sudan as an eligible beneficiary country under AGOA; (2) implements non-controversial technical corrections and modifications to the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR); and (3) renews Presidential authority to apply import sanctions against Burma.This bipartisan legislation passed by voice vote. ...

The Senate a few minutes ago rejected the Sen. Coburn amendment which sought to remove the AGOA third country fabric provisions from S.3326. By rejecting the amendment, the original Bill was passed by consent. A short while earlier, the equivalent legislation was passed by the House of Representatives. See related articles: Senator Coburn vows to block unanimous consent vote on bill to assist African economiesHouse of Reps passes AGOA fabric provisionsFurther details to follow.Tweet

Today, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk applauded news of a welcomed and long-awaited vote by both the House and Senate to make critical amendments to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Central America – Dominican Republic – United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). “This is great news for thousands of workers and businesses in the United States, Africa and Latin America. This victory today proves that when jobs are on the line, we can come together in a bipartisan fashion to do what is right for our...

A bill seeking extension of the third-country fabric provision under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has got stalled due to a row in the US Senate over the funding of AGOA. This has caused a substantial reduction in apparel orders placed by US firms with African companies. The third-country fabric provision allows for duty-free import of garments made in Sub-Saharan African countries using yarn and fabric imported from non-African countries, especially countries like India and China. In the event of non-extension of the...

The Center for Global Development is pleased to host Michael Froman, President Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor and Assistant for International Economics, for a discussion of the Obama Administration's strategy to achieve poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Froman recently led an interagency delegation to Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria to meet with a cross section of government officials, private sector leaders and young entrepreneurs on a range of issues and initiatives including the...

The multiple crises dominating world headlines today—the Eurozone implosion, stagnating economies in the U.S. and China, Iran’s nuclear impasse, and the turmoil in the Middle East—obscure what will be remembered as one of the enduring trends of the first decades of the 21st Century: Africa’s emergence as an economic center for growth and investment.Near-term and longer, the signs are already evident. Six out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world over the past decade are found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Looking forward,...

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) argued on the floor Thursday about how to pay for a bill to assistant African economies.The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides aid to economies of sub-Saharan Africa and trade incentives.Coburn has a problem with the fact that the $200 million bill is paid for over 10 years rather than this year and said he would block unanimous consent passage until he gets his way.“It’s kicking the can down the road,” Coburn said. “I’m for the AGOA package, but I want to pay for...

US Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, spoke on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon urging his colleagues to support the reauthorization of legislation that allows for duty-free access to the U.S. market for apparel that is produced in sub-Saharan African countries using fabric that was produced elsewhere. The African Growth and Opportunity Act's Third Party Fabric Provision was introduced for reauthorization on June 21, 2012, by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus...

This morning Senator Coburn asked unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S.3326, a bill to amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act to extend the third-country fabric program and to add South Sudan to the list of countries eligible for designation under that Act, to make technical corrections to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States relating to the textile and apparel rules of origin for the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, to approve the renewal of...

The Senate Finance Committee approved several bills including: renewal of the third-country fabric provisions of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and modification of the textile and apparel rules of origin under the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA); U.S. Customs and Border Protection requirements relating to dumping and countervailing duty orders; and citrus, cotton, and wool trust funds.These bills were in addition to unanimous approval of legislation granting permanent normal trade relations to Russia and...

The USA is proposing a new trade arrangement with East Africa even as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), enacted in 2000, remains in force. Commerce is arguably the most ancient and effective tool in the fight against poverty and development of infrastructure. It is early trade links between Africa and the outside world that explains the development of cities such as Mombasa and Dar ess Salaam and the subsequent opening up of the interior through roads and railway. That is why a proposal by US President Barrack Obama's...

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk welcomed news of passage by the Senate Finance Committee today of key legislation that makes crucial improvements and amendments to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), America’s trade preference program for sub-Saharan Africa, and the Central America – Dominican Republic – United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).“It is critical for workers and businesses in the U.S. and Africa that we extend this key provision before it is due to expire in September. Just last week, I...

The livelihoods of tens of thousands of textile workers in Africa is hanging in the balance amid growing anxiety about whether a key provision of US trade legislation will be renewed before it expires in September. The African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) was enacted by former President Bill Clinton in 2000 with the aim of boosting trade and development in eligible African countries by allowing them to export products to the USA, duty-free. A large proportion of these products are garments, with exports from Africa to the USA now...

I had three distinct reactions to Nicholas Kristof’s June 30th op-ed titled “Africa on the Rise.”First, I was put off by his generalizations. Does he really think that Americans, especially those who read The New York Times thoroughly enough to get to his column, still regard Africa simply as “a quagmire of famine and genocide, a destination only for a sybaritic safari or a masochistic aid mission”?Does he really believe that US businesses are “only beginning to wake up to the economic potential” of Africa? These assertions...

The five partner states of the East African Community (EAC) have in the first six months of 2012 earned $202m from exports to the United States under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative. AGOA grants up to 97% market access to Africa's exports, as the US seeks a more liberalised African market for its exports. According to the US Department of Commerce report of June 2012, Burundi's export earnings were $1.7m for the first six months of 2012 although this was a decline from earnings in the first half of 2011 which was...

Foreign Direct Investment inflows to sub-Saharan Africa (s-SA), which includes SA, jumped from US$29.5 billion in 2010 to $36.9 billion in 2011, a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report released on Thursday showed.“A rebound in FDI to SA accentuated that recovery,” the report noted.UNCTAD expected the region to continue enjoying foreign investment inflows in 2012, mainly driven by interest from Asia.In s-SA, with the exception of SA, net sales relating to mergers and acquisitions more than...

Tanzania Trade Development Authority (Tantrade), has been urged to carry out research in AGOA to identify market needs and relay the information to local businesses so as to enable them to customise their services. Maajar, Tanzanian-US Ambassador made the remarks on Sunday at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) when she paid a visit with VIP business executives from the US to hold talks with Tantrade’s Acting Director General Samuel Billy Mwingira before visiting the exhibitions. “…I encourage Tantrade to market our...

Generations of Americans have learned to pity Africa. It's mainly seen as a quagmire of famine and genocide, a destination only for a sybaritic safari or a masochistic aid mission.So here's another way to think of Africa: an economic dynamo. Is it time to prepare for the African tiger economy? Six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies between 2001 and 2010 were in Africa, according to The Economist. The International Monetary Fund says that between 2011 and 2015, African countries will account for seven of the top 10 spots.Africa isn't...

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to address the committee on what I feel is an important and timely topic. The U.S. Government is committed to expanding trade and investment in sub-Saharan Africa and the numbers show our commitment. U.S. trade to and from Africa has grown significantly in the past ten years. U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa tripled from just under $7 billion U.S. dollars in 2001 to over $21 billion dollars in 2011.As Secretary of State Clinton said at the annual AGOA...

Bipartisan bills have been introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to continue the expansion of United States trade with sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, by means of extending and changing key provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Dominican Republic-Central America-US free trade agreement (CAFTA-DR).AGOA is described as the cornerstone of America’s trade and investment policy with sub-Saharan Africa. At the centre of AGOA are substantial trade preferences that, along with those...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced legislation today [ AGOA.info note: track progress of this legislation at this link] to continue expanding U.S. trade with sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. The bill will extend a key provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and make non-controversial technical changes to the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) textiles and apparel provisions. In addition to the AGOA...

Senior U.S. and African government officials, private sector business executives, African civil society representatives and women entrepreneurs from across sub-Saharan Africa have concluded the 11th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum in Washington, ending meetings that covered a wide range of issues intended to help reach their common goal of enhancing U.S.-Africa trade to promote shared economic growth. "We have now come to the end of two very productive days spent exchanging ideas about how to further that common goal in...

Lack of developed transportation network in the region is among the hurdles hindering landlocked countries from maximising the benefits from the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).This was highlighted during the just concluded AGOA forum, where US and Sub-Saharan Africa governments and private sector discussed the trade opportunities and challenges among AGOA member countries.The Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, led the Rwandan delegation to the meeting along with Ambassador James Kimonyo.He called for a "stronger...

Following a meeting on the sidelines of the recent African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the East African Community (EAC) member states have issued a joint statement on a new trade and investment partnership.The USTR Ron Kirk, the EAC’s Secretary General Richard Sezibera, the Burundian Minister of Commerce Victoire Ndikumana, the Kenyan Minister for Trade Moses Wetang'ula, the Rwandan Minister of Trade and Industry François Kanimba, the Tanzanian Minister for Industry, Trade,...

Statement from Office of the United States Trade Representative, made by Deputy USTR Ambassador Demetrios Marantis:Good afternoon,I want to start off by saying thank you to our distinguished guests - the African Ministers and officials who have traveled so far to be here, my U.S. Government colleagues, and our partners in the private sector - for your insightful dialogue over the course of this ministerial, and for your continued commitment to fostering this vital partnership between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa.Yesterday...

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and South Africa Minister of Trade Rob Davies (have) signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Today’s Agreement amends the TIFA signed in 1999 in order to deepen the U.S.-South Africa trade and investment relationship. The TIFA also provides a forum to address trade issues and will help enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries.“This amended agreement will provide a forum to better exchange views on improving the trade and investment climate and promoting...

The 11th AGOA Forum not only brought together U.S. and African officials to discuss infrastructure and trade June 14-15, but also featured an important meeting of civil society leaders to evaluate the African Growth and Opportunity Act's impact on ordinary people and discuss ways to better educate them about the trade act's benefits.The AGOA Civil Society Session included social organization leaders, small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs, network members, young professionals and members of the African Women Entrepreneurs Program...

The United States and South Africa are stepping up their trade and investment relationship by vowing to open up a dialogue and remove hurdles. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and South Africa Minister of Trade Rob Davies have signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which amends the TIFA signed in 1999, to better address and deepen the trade and investment relations between the two countries. "This amended agreement will provide a forum to better exchange views on improving the trade and investment climate and promoting...

A United States (US) trade expert has urged African countries to fight off the non-tariff barriers which are the biggest hindrance to the growth of infra-Africa trade.Deputy Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance at US Department of Commerce and International Trade Administration John Anderson hailed African countries for removing tariffs on goods but complained that the biggest enemy remained the non-tariff barriers.Speaking from Washington through a teleconference, Mr Anderson said various African countries had, through...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opened the 11th U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum yesterday, also known as the AGOA Forum, in Washington with remarks applauding the great success of the pivotal economic development program.[Follow this LINK to view a video broadcast of Sec. Clinton's opening remarks.] "AGOA has helped to increase trade and investment and opened new doors of opportunity," Clinton said during the forum at the State Department June 14. "It's led to new jobs, the rise of new sectors and new business...