A container ship arrives to Miami in Miami Beach, Florida, US, on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg African trade ministers last week attended an AGOA Forum in Washington where they called for the program to be extended by the end of this year. American trade concessions have in part been directed at countering Russia and China’s influence on the continent.
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The ministers also called for the preferential market-access deal to be extended by at least 16 years with minimal changes to stabilize commerce and investment relations and preserve regional value chains, the African Union said in a statement last week.
Basu said a a deal that runs for longer than the current 10-year one is under consideration.
While US senators introduced a bill in April to extend AGOA until 2041, its beneficiaries are still awaiting formal guidance about its future.
“Congress is completely in charge of the legislation,” Constance Hamilton, the US trade representative for Africa, told the briefing. I am very confident that it will happen before AGOA is set to expire in 2025.”
Two-way trade between the US and countries that qualify for market access under AGOA exceeded $46 billion in 2022, with $30 billion worth of goods shipped to the US in that year. As much as $10.2 billion worth of goods traded under the preferential trade access program.