US removes Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from trade pact

President Joe Biden’s administration said on Saturday that it had excluded Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from a trade agreement agreement between the United States and Africa, and said the actions of the three governments violated its principles. “The United States today removed Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preferences program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute,” said the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in a statement.

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was implemented in 2000 under the administration of former President Bill Clinton to facilitate and regulate trade between the United States and Africa. But the United States is “deeply concerned about the unconstitutional change in the governments of Guinea and Mali,” the statement said. It also expressed concern about “grave violations of internationally recognised human rights perpetrated by the Ethiopian government and other parties amid the escalating conflict in northern Ethiopia. Each country has clear benchmarks for a path to reinstatement and the administration will work with their governments to achieve that goal,” the USTR said.

Under the AGOA agreement, thousands of African products can benefit from reduced import taxes, provided that the conditions regarding human rights, good governance and worker protection are met, as well as that a customs ban is not applied to the products. Americans in their territory. By 2020, 38 countries were eligible for AGOA, according to the USTR website. The agreement was modernised in 2015 by the United States Congress, which also extended the program until 2025.

Guardian