Plea for Agoa patience: Tread carefully, Africa…

African leaders should tread carefully in their efforts to push the Joe Biden administration for an early resolution to the anticipated extension and reauthorisation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a leading SA-based American international relations scholar cautioned yesterday.

While United States President Biden, trade representative Katherine Tai and the entire government, have expressed a desire for Agoa, expiring on 20 September 2025, to be extended, the mechanism giving selected African countries to trade with the US duty-free is heavily dependent on a Congress rubber-stamp.

Agoa ‘not any trade deal’

Agoa is a statutory programme which future will be determined by Congress – not any trade deal.

Biden has come out in strong support of the re-authorisation, describing it as “a landmark, bipartisan law that has formed a bedrock for US trade with sub-Saharan Africa for more than two decades”.

And the continent’s trade ministers converging in Johannesburg heard how the extension would create a long-term stable investment atmosphere.

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What is Agoa?

Since its enactment in 2000, Agoa has been at the core of US economic policy and commercial engagement with Africa – providing eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the US market for over 1 800 products.

By providing new market opportunities, Agoa has helped bolster economic growth, promoted economic and political reform and improved US economic relations in the region.

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‘Win-win’

Following the three-day Algoa forum, Wits University’s visiting professor of international relations, John Stremlau said Biden regarded Agoa as “a win-win”.

“An anticipated reciprocation by Africa is the position of the Republicans, while the Biden administration sees this as a win-win for the US to have increasing trade and economic development and downstream manufacturing exports into the US market.

“After all, Africa comprises only 1% of US trade with the world and yet there are 40 million African-Americans in the US – a very important interest group that is part of the US pluralism.”

Agoa relies on congressional approval

This, said Stremlau, was “not a trade agreement with everything relying on congressional approval”.

“Congress is currently in disarray as evidenced by the House of Representatives’ recent battle to pick a Speaker.

“Agoa does not expire until 2025 and it is conceivable that Biden, who is a strong supporter of Agoa, his administration and the Democrats, may choose to go ahead and forego any congressional debate.

“Remember, the Senate is controlled by Democrats, but the House of Representatives has just appointed Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, to be the Speaker,” said Stremlau.

“Johnson championed Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of the 2022 elections. Claiming to be a Christian nationalist from a small state, he has also claimed to be a supporter of democracy but has been very clear that democracy has not been in play here.”

Republicans ‘increasingly nationalistic economically’

Stremlau said the Republicans were “increasingly nationalistic economically”.

“Jim Rich, the Republican from Idaho, said it is wrong to host the Agoa summit, because SA has differences of policy with the United States on Israel, Palestine and Russia.

“When that segment of the Republican Party dominates, you have a problem.

“Rich is an example of a senator from a devout Christian state of two million people in Idaho, with only two senators – compared with nearly 40 million in California,” said Stremlau.

“African leaders have to be patient with the US in trying to push for an outcome acceptable to Africa.”

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