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1 1 (March 26, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcjzr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. ' ,iE SE .$.!, i , mppm qq\ p\w -- , gmmw' go I as 11LULANJILiN, Updated March 26, 2020 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) What is AGOA? AGOA (P.L. 106-200, as amended), a cornerstone of U.S. trade policy toward sub-Saharan Africa since 2000, is a nonreciprocal U.S. trade preference program that provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for most exports from eligible sub-Saharan African countries. In addition to preferential market access, the act also requires an annual forum, known as the AGOA Forum, held between U.S. and AGOA country officials to discuss trade-related issues. Additionally, AGOA provides direction to select U.S. government agencies regarding their trade and investment support activities in the region. Which countries are eligible? AGOA lists 49 sub-Saharan African countries that are potential candidates for program benefits. AGOA eligibility criteria address issues such as trade and investment policy, governance, worker rights, and human rights, among other issues, which countries must satisfy to be beneficiaries of the AGOA preferences. The President annually reviews and determines each country's AGOA eligibility. There are currently 38 AGOA-eligible countries. In the most recent eligibility determination, President Trump removed AGOA benefits for Cameroon, effective January 1, 2020, due to violations of AGOA's eligibility criteria pertaining to human rights. An ongoing review of South Africa's eligibility under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) due to concerns over its protection of intellectual property rights could also result in lost AGOA eligibility as AGOA builds on GSP and requires that beneficiary countries satisfy both programs' eligibility criteria (see Relation to GSP below). Ten other sub-Saharan African countries remain ineligible for the program's preference benefits in 2020 based on prior determinations. They include (with noted eligibility violations): Burundi (political violence), the Democratic Republic of Congo (human rights), Equatorial Guinea (income graduation), Eritrea (human rights), Mauritania (worker rights), Seychelles (income graduation), Somalia (never eligible), South Sudan (political violence), Sudan (never eligible), and Zimbabwe (never eligible). In addition, Rwanda's AGOA benefits for apparel exports have been suspended since July 31, 2018, following an out-of-cycle eligibility determination in response to increased tariff barriers on used clothing imports from the United States. What is the authorization status? AGOA was first established by Congress in 2000 and has been amended several times. The Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, P.L. 114-27, extended AGOA's authorization for ten years to September 2025. Most recently, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Millennium Challenge Act Modernization Act of 2018, P.L. 115-167, required the Administration to provide information on AGOA through an official AGOA website, promote AGOA utilization, product diversification, and regional cooperation, and educate African entrepreneurs. What is the goal? Through AGOA, the U.S. Congress seeks to increase U.S. trade and investment with the region, promote sustainable economic growth through trade, and encourage the rule of law and market-oriented reforms. Supporting views. Supporters of AGOA argue that the program affords African producers an important competitive advantage in the U.S. market, thereby enabling exports, encouraging investment in the region, boosting private sector activity and economic growth, and ultimately generating demand for U.S. goods and services as the region's economies develop. Opposing views. Opposition is mostly from U.S. producers that may face increased import competition from AGOA countries. Such concerns are generally limited due to the low volume of U.S. imports under AGOA, but import competing U.S. producers have lobbied to keep certain products, particularly sugar, out of the program. U.&S. tw sunder A OA Total U.S. AGOA imports were $8.4 billion in 2019, down from $12.0 billion in 2018. Imports remain concentrated in key countries and industries, but diversification is growing. * Energy products, mainly crude oil, accounted for $4.6 billion of U.S. AGOA imports (55%) in 2019, down more than $40 billion from their 2011 peak. Nigeria was the top crude supplier ($3.1 billion) in 2019. * AGOA non-energy imports have grown from $1.3 billion in 2001 to $3.8 billion in 2019. Top non-energy import categories include textiles and apparel ($1.4 billion), agricultural products ($656 million), minerals and metals ($510 million), transportation equipment ($499 million), and chemicals ($434 million). * South Africa is the top supplier of AGOA non-energy imports (Figure 1), but its dominance has declined. Decreasing auto imports from South Africa (down $1.8 billion from their 2013 peak) and increasing apparel imports from other top countries are the main trends underlying this shift. AGOA imports from Ethiopia, for example, grew by 55% or $87 million in 2019 alone. K~:>

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