Against a broader backdrop of competition with China and an ongoing review of the U.S. trade posture, bipartisan enthusiasm for trade with Africa shone through from the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.
Senators from both parties acknowledged they agreed on much of the matter on the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), two programs that remove trade restrictions on African products.
“I’m pleased to be part of this enthusiastic gathering of pro-trade people here today,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who called the hearing an “exhilarating development” that could refer to the lack of consensus over U.S. trade policy in recent years.
of AGOA Trade ProgramThe Special System of Preferences, which allowed duty-free exports from Africa to the United States, is set to expire next year. The related GSP trade preferences, which many developed countries maintain but which are available to developing countries, expired in the United States in 2020.
According to the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, GSP applies to approximately 4,600 import items, while the AGOA expansion applies to more than 6,400 import items.
African countries see the AGOA partnership as valuable for their economies.
Uganda was excluded from AGOA in 2023 for what the United States called “serious human rights violations” following the passage of a law banning homosexuality that was recently upheld by the country’s high court, and is seeking to rejoin the program.
The chairman of Uganda’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Export and Industrial Development, Odolek Rwabwogo, visited Parliament in May and told the Ways and Means Committee about the return to the program, how long it will be extended and how it will impact Uganda’s economic design.
“We were talking about localizing the cotton value chain. [and] “When it comes to coffee, even if AGAO regains its trading status, a joint venture should be set up between the two countries so that cotton does not come from other countries,” he told The Hill.
A regional trade group among African countries is also on the table, he said.
“We are starting to think about an African Free Trade Area, which should be the voice of African trade, speaking to North America as a unified voice, not country by country, so that America starts looking at us as a place for growth,” he said.
“It takes time for things to change. Societies change slowly,” Rwabwogo said of his country’s position on LGBTQ rights.
The U.S. enthusiasm for trade with Africa is the result of long-standing geopolitical competition with China on the continent, which has helped finance African infrastructure projects and numerous joint commercial ventures.
President Biden in May ratcheted up the competition by announcing sweeping new tariffs on Chinese products, part of which will ensure that cheap Chinese cars never make it into the U.S. market.
Africa’s vast abundance of natural resources means that there is an ongoing industrial transition to alternative energy products, many of which require metals and minerals that are abundant in Africa.
Following the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017 and the 2020 revision of a more progressive NAFTA known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, trade with Africa could become a new focus on the U.S. trade agenda.
“I hope I can have a reputation as a free trader, and as time goes on, I think I’ll be in the minority in Congress … and probably in the minority across the country,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday. “Free trade has lifted millions of people out of poverty.”
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