Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act
TRALAC - Trade Law Centre
You are here: Home/News/Article/Africa-US AGOA trade talks end with 'no decision, waning enthusiasm' - Reuters

Africa-US AGOA trade talks end with 'no decision, waning enthusiasm' - Reuters

Africa-US AGOA trade talks end with 'no decision, waning enthusiasm' - Reuters
Published date:
Sunday, 13 August 2017
Author:
John Zodzi

LOME (Reuters) - Talks between African and U.S. officials to review the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) free trade deal ended on Thursday with no decision and a feeling on all sides that it has achieved little since it was set up.

President Donald Trump's top trade negotiator Robert E. Lighthizer and other U.S. officials have been in the tiny West African nation of Togo over the past two days to discuss the Clinton-era trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa.

Trump's "America First" campaign has seen him withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, threaten to tear up NAFTA and seek to renegotiate the U.S.-South Korea free trade deal.

But his administration has said little about Africa, and had not previously mentioned the 2000 AGOA trade agreement. It is not clear whether the U.S. wants to change the deal before it expires in 2025 or extend it further - no decision was made on either count.

AGOA allows tariff-free access for thousands of goods from 38 African nations to U.S. markets.

"The number of countries benefiting from AGOA is very limited, as is the number of sectors," Peter Barlerin, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs, said at the forum on Wednesday.

"We will see if the situation improves in the coming years, but it is also up to the beneficiary countries to enhance their business climate."

Bernadette Legzim-Balouki, Togo's trade minister, who presided over the meeting, was equally lukewarm on AGOA.

"Not all the countries eligible have benefited from the law," she said. "We are trying to examine the constraints that prevent some African countries from profiting."

Legzim-Balouki added that the United States and the nations eligible for AGOA had agreed on some loose aims, including: to develop a better plan to take full advantage of the pact, for each eligible country to have bilateral talks with the United States, and the need for a mechanism to protect African producers from price volatility.

The U.S. trade deficit with the AGOA countries shrank to about $7.9 billion last year from a peak of $64 billion in 2008, as U.S. shale oil production increases have lessened the need for oil imports from major exporters Nigeria and Angola.

"AGOA is an excellent opportunity but we aren't making the most of it, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about it," Beninois agribusinessman Sylvain Adewoussi told Reuters.

Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Bolton

 

Read related news articles

Reports by the organisers on the 2017 AGOA Forum held in Togo

See the 2017 AGOA Forum Reports (prepared by the AGOA Togo Organising Committee) in the AGOA Forum Downloads Section.    Forum 2017 Brochure and Photos   AGOA Forum 2017: General Report on the AGOA Forum in Togo (english)   AGOA Forum 2017: General Report on the AGOA Forum in Togo (french)  

26 October 2017

US assures Africa AGOA pact is here to stay

The United States is determined to deepen trade with sub-Sahara Africa following assurances that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) deal is safe under the Trump administration. While a dark cloud has been hanging over Agoa since Donald Trump became US president over six months ago, a top US trade representative has assured African countries that the US is committed to a stronger and more sustainable relationship with Africa through...

17 August 2017

South Africa: Trade and Industry on AGOA industrialisation and regional value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa

The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a cornerstone of United States (U.S.)-Africa trade relations and has facilitated mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between eligible African countries and the U.S.  Total trade between the Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. stood at $33 bn in 2016. Through AGOA, non-energy exports from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) into the US, mainly for clothing and textile, autos and agriculture...

15 August 2017

AGOA Forum 2017: Opening statement by the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry

Statement by Ambassador Albert M. Muchanga Africa Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry I am delighted to be here this morning and participate in the opening ceremony of the United States-Sub Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation (AGOA) Forum that is convening under the Theme: “The U.S. and Africa: Partnering for Prosperity Through Trade”. My statement will be brief. I will broadly touch on the challenge that we face to...

14 August 2017

Why the US's use of AGOA reviews worries African trade ministers

African countries have urged the US not to use the out-of-cycle reviews under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in a manner that restricts their ability to pursue policies in their national interest, in particular those that promote industrialisation. Agoa provides duty-free, quota-free treatment for more than 6,000 tariff lines from African countries into the US market. East African countries Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda — are...

14 August 2017

Togo's trade minister laments suboptimal use of AGOA provisions

Togo's trade minister said here Tuesday that the United States' African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is "not used optimally" by African economies. Bernadette Legzim-Balouki, Togolese minister of trade and private sector promotion, said this during the session on the private sector and civil society at the 16th Forum of the AGOA in Lome, capital of Togo. The Togolese minister cited the lack of optimal use of AGOA regarding the challenges...

09 August 2017

Reps Brady & Reichert express strong support for AGOA as US co-hosts forum in Togo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA) issued the following statements as the United States and Togo co-host the 2017 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum this week to further strengthen important economic ties between the United States and Africa. Reinforcing his support for AGOA, Chairman Brady said: “The bipartisan 10-year...

08 August 2017

Trump administration's Africa policy in focus at AGOA trade talks

With the Trump administration's trade agenda focused on reining in China and renegotiating the North American Free Trade agreement, Africa has barely appeared on the radar screen. That could change this week as President Donald Trump's top trade negotiator and other senior U.S. officials head to the West African nation of Togo to review a Clinton-era free trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa, in the administration's first high-level delegation...

08 August 2017

Press Release: US delegation at 2017 AGOA Forum in Togo

Office of the Spokesperson, Washington, DC, August 7, 2017 Senior Bureau Official for African Affairs Peter Barlerin will travel to Togo from August 7 – August 10 as part of the delegation led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to attend the 2017 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, held August 8-10 in Lomé, Togo. Established by AGOA law, the annual forum provides a platform for promoting stronger...

07 August 2017

The Trump administration’s first AGOA Forum

Next week, some 40 African finance and trade ministers, along with a large contingent of senior U.S. government officials will descend upon the coastal city of Lomé, Togo for the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. There will be more eyes on this year’s Forum. Aside from Secretary Ross’ brief address at the Corporate Council on Africa’s Annual Summit earlier in the summer, this will be the first...

04 August 2017

You are here: Home/News/Article/Africa-US AGOA trade talks end with 'no decision, waning enthusiasm' - Reuters