Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act
TRALAC - Trade Law Centre
You are here: Home/News/Article/AGOA eligibility continues in 2012 for 40 African countries

AGOA eligibility continues in 2012 for 40 African countries

AGOA eligibility continues in 2012 for 40 African countries
USTR Ron Kirk
Published date:
Friday, 30 December 2011
Author:
IIP Digital (US Government)

Forty sub-Saharan African countries will remain eligible in 2012 for US trade preferences and benefits aimed at improving lives and livelihoods on the continent.

During the 2011 review process, President Obama determined that all the countries currently eligible for trade preferences and other benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would remain eligible and that no new countries would be added as AGOA beneficiaries, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced December 29.

“President Obama’s determination today is good news for the people of these African nations, as well as for the American businesses and workers trading with these countries,” Kirk said. “We are proud to announce, after a thorough review by the Obama administration, that all 40 of these important U.S. trading partners will continue to receive benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act - a vital and growing pillar of US-Africa trade policy.”

Each year the administration examines whether the countries named in the act had met AGOA’s eligibility criteria. Those criteria include establishing, or making continual progress toward establishing, a market-based economy, rule of law, economic policies to reduce poverty, protection of internationally recognized worker rights and efforts to combat corruption.

Countries eligible for AGOA also may not engage in activities that undermine U.S. foreign policy interests, or engage in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.

On October 25, President Obama signed a presidential proclamation designating Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Niger as eligible for AGOA benefits. Each of these countries was previously ineligible, but during a separate review process, the president determined that they had met the act’s eligibility criteria.

Total two-way goods trade with sub-Saharan Africa countries during 2010 was $82 billion. U.S. imports under AGOA totaled $44.2 billion. Non-oil imports under AGOA totaled $4 billion and included value-added products such as apparel, footwear, processed agricultural products and manufactured goods.

The top five beneficiary countries were Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Republic of Congo and Chad. Other leading AGOA beneficiaries included Gabon, Lesotho, Kenya, Mauritius and Swaziland.

AGOA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in May 2000 with the objectives of expanding U.S. trade and investment with sub-Saharan Africa, stimulating economic growth, promoting a high-level dialogue on trade and investment-related issues and facilitating sub-Saharan Africa’s integration into the global economy.

At the center of AGOA are substantial trade preferences that, along with those under the Generalized System of Preferences and Most-Favored Nation tariff treatment, allow almost all goods produced in the AGOA-eligible countries to enter the U.S. market duty-free.

Read related news articles

** AGOA eligibility review 2023 (for year 2024): Timelines of hearings and request for comments ** [Deadline written submissions 7 July]

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is announcing the initiation of the annual review of the eligibility of sub-Saharan African countries to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (AGOA Subcommittee) is requesting written public comments for this review and will conduct a virtual public hearing on this matter. In...

16 May 2023

Cameroon aims to boost export revenues, rejoin AGOA - minister

Cameroon is working to boost export revenues to fend off a potential debt crisis and has relaunched talks with the U.S. to rejoin Washington's flagship trade initiative with Africa, its economy minister said on Monday. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global shocks provoked by the war in Ukraine have hit African countries hard, denting economic growth and aggravating their sovereign debt positions. The...

11 April 2023

Somalia pursues AGOA membership to bolster trade

The Somali government officially applied to join the 36 African countries on Thursday, benefiting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The announcement was made during the Somalia AGOA application ceremony, where outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Somalia, Larry André, highlighted the United States’ commitment to expanding and modernizing partnerships in Africa and Somalia. Ambassador André emphasized that the U.S....

10 April 2023

Ethiopia asks US to reinstate AGOA trade benefits as US Secretary of State Blinken heads to Addis, Niger

Ethiopia is asking the Joe Biden administration to reinstate its duty-free access to the US market, arguing that “exceptional circumstances” warrant an immediate re-examination of its suspension just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Addis Ababa to discuss the cessation of hostilities in Tigray. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) terminated Ethiopia’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act...

09 March 2023

US to remove Burkina Faso from AGOA effective 1 January 2023: White House

U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Wednesday his intent to exclude Burkina Faso from a U.S.-Africa trade pact, citing a lack of progress toward protecting the rule of law and political pluralism. Biden said that Washington will terminate Burkina Faso's designation as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), starting January 2023 as it has not met"eligibility requirements." The decision...

02 November 2022

In Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali, fears rise over losing duty-free access to US market

For Sammy Abdella, the new year has brought bad tidings: the prospect of a steep drop in sales of scarves, rugs, baskets and other textile goods produced by Sammy Handmade in Ethiopia. “The U.S. market is our main destination,” said Abdella, who estimates it accounts for nearly two-thirds of sales for his Addis Ababa-based home decor and fashion company. “So, losing that put us in a very, you know, bad situation.” The source of...

20 January 2022

What does the US decision to delist three African countries from AGOA status imply?

Trade is one highly significant part of Africa’s story. Its pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial transitions are all marked by trade. But for many years, African trade has struggled with several challenges: poor infrastructure, high transaction costs, opportunism and unfriendly policies. So when President Bill Clinton signed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000, African countries were given a competitive edge by...

11 January 2022

US takes Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea off AGOA program

The United States on Saturday cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from access to a duty-free trade program, following through on President Joe Biden's threat to do so over accusations of human rights violations and recent coups. "The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute," the U.S. Trade Representative's...

01 January 2022

Despite a late push, Ethiopia is set to exit the US trade pact

Despite a last-minute drive backed by diaspora members who fear that Washington may lose an ally, Ethiopia is likely to lose important commercial privileges in the United States on January 1 due to human rights concerns. President Joe Biden said on November 2 that Ethiopia, a longtime US ally and the continent’s second most populous country, will be removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act in the New Year, citing “grave...

30 December 2021

US President terminates AGOA preferences for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea

U.S. President Joe Biden announced yesterday that he has “determined that Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali do not meet” the AGOA requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) and has proceeded to “terminate the designation of the three countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries …effective January 1, 2022.” On November 21, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs lamented the impending decision by the U.S. to remove Ethiopia...

24 December 2021

Senator Van Hollen, Representative Bass urge Biden Administration to reconsider Ethiopia's suspension from AGOA

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.) urged President Biden to reconsider his Administration’s November 2, 2021 decision to terminate Ethiopia’s designation as a beneficiary country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at the end of this year. As the lawmakers note in their letter (download a copy at the link alongside), this decision will hurt the nation’s most vulnerable...

23 December 2021

You are here: Home/News/Article/AGOA eligibility continues in 2012 for 40 African countries