Commerce, trade and industry Minister Felix Mutati has observed that Zambia still face challenges into the exportation of goods to the US market because of standards.

Mr. Mutati said that though African countries, Zambia inclusive have market access into the US, through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) , issue of standard has complicated the entry of goods.

He has stated that at the next AGOA summit, Zambia is likely to address challenges that hamper trade with the US.

The Commerce and Trade Minister noted that since trade with the US is only limited to oil and oil related products; this has brought limited transaction between the two countries.

He said that government wants to lobby for increased trade in other products and extension of trade period.

Mr. Mutati also says said that they is need to relax entry conditions to the US, as that would increase trade.

AGOA provides trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry into the United States for certain goods, expanding the benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

Notably, AGOA expanded market access for textile and apparel goods into the United States for eligible countries.

This resulted in the growth of an apparel industry in southern Africa, and created hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Zambia's bilateral trade with the United States, disaggregated by total exports and imports, AGOA exports and GSP exports.

Other regularly updated trade statistics on AGOA.info include: (click each link to view)