AGOA

US removes Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from AGOA trade programme

3-Jan-2022 Al Jazeera

US removes Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from duty-free trade programme over alleged rights violations and recent coups.

29-Dec-2021 Business Daily

Separate statements issued by both Kenya’s Trade Cabinet secretary Betty Maina and her US trade chief Katherine Tai, after a virtual meeting last Tuesday did not provide any timelines for resuming the stalled talks on the deal signalling a persisting deadlock.

Hope for Kenya–US trade deal as ministers hold talks

11-Dec-2021 The Star

Kenya and the US have revisited discussions on trade policies, giving hope to the stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that started more than a year ago.

Why US is suspending Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea from Free-Trade Deal

21-Nov-2021 Voa

In response to human rights violations, the United States announced this week that it plans to suspend Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from duty-free access to American markets as of January 1.

Kenya appeals to Uganda to sign EU trade pact

13-Sep-2021 The Independent

Kenya has again appealed to Uganda for a joint strategy on accessing the European market through the stalled EU/EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Rich countries want to strike trade deals in Africa

28-Aug-2021 The Economist

There is a sense of drift in Africa’s trade relations with the West, as both America and Europe rethink how they do business with the continent. The old approach was paternalistic and gave Africans little say. But the new one, handled badly, could put Africa’s own integration at risk.

US trade chief plans summit to discuss Africa duty-free access

29-Jul-2021 Bloomberg

The US’s trade chief plans to convene a meeting with African ministers before the end of the year to strengthen partnerships and discuss a law that provides duty-free access to the U.S. for thousands of goods from sub-Saharan nations.

Namibia launches AGOA strategy to increase tariff-free exports to the United States

14-May-2021 USAID

The strategy seeks to increase Namibia’s exports under the AGOA program, which allows Namibia to export over 6,400 products tariff-free to the United States.

Botswana launches revised AGOA strategy

7-May-2021 Daily News Botswana

The revised African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) National Response Strategy for Botswana remains one of the mechanisms towards economic diversification and SME sustainable development

Biden team set to review Kenya, Trump trade talks

7-Apr-2021 The East African

The Biden administration will review bilateral trade negotiations and targets that ex-President Donald Trump regime made with Kenya last year over a potential free trading deal. The start of the trade talks could be delayed.

Biden faces South African push to extend trade concessions

22-Feb-2021 Bloomberg

South Africa’s preferential market access to the U.S. is under review, however, the country is apprehensive about striking a new trade deal with the U.S. and would rather maintain existing relations with the world’s largest economy.

Mukhisa says planned Kenya-US trade deal unfavourable

11-Sep-2020 The Star

The Donald Trump’s administration is seeking abolition of import duty on agricultural exports to Kenya.

Proceed with caution over USA trade deal

6-Aug-2020 The Star

Negotiations over a trade agreement between Kenya and the US have resumed. The deal could undermine African common markets and flood Kenya with cheap maize and chicken.

What Kenya is seeking in free trade deal talks with America

26-Jul-2020 The Nation

Kenya’s need to export value-added agricultural products dominated the first round of talks with America after its formal launch on Wednesday last week.

Opposition to the proposed US-Kenya free trade agreement

9-Jul-2020

Kenya should abandon or, at the very least, postpone the United States-Kenya Free Trade Agreement negotiations to a later date, civil society groups say in letter to the AfCFTA Secretariat.

The US apparel and footwear industry is urging Congress to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act this year

12-Jun-2020 Politico

AGOA doesn’t expire until 2025, but the industry looks for certainty to the region in the face of the pandemic and upcoming US trade talks with Kenya.

Import substitution and the need for well negotiated trade agreements

18-May-2020 Nile Post

The Ministry of Trade should ensure that eventual agreements promote Uganda’s aspiration for industrialisation and provide the policy space for government to be able to use a range of trade policy instruments.

South Africa raises poultry-import tariffs, drawing US ire

16-Mar-2020 Bloomberg

The announcement immediately drew criticism from the US government, which previously threatened to exclude South Africa from a preferential trade agreement after a disagreement over the levies in 2015.