The Trump administration claims to be in favor of extending the Africa trade initiative for another year
The African Growth and Opportunity Act, the trade program with sub-Saharan Africa that ends Tuesday, has a one-year extension that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump supports, a White House official said.
AGOA, a law originally approved in 2000 to allow duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products, has been the subject of no public statements by the administration since taking office in January.
Although there is widespread bipartisan support for extending AGOA, which proponents claim helps offset Chinese influence in Africa and diversify U.S. supply chains, it is extremely unlikely that the program would be extended before it expires.
Republicans’ emergency funding bill, which would keep the U.S. government operating past Tuesday, is the only practical way for it to pass into law, but it may be revived later.
In recent weeks, African governments and investors have been advocating for a one- or two-year extension, following the failure of efforts to achieve a longer-term renewal to reach a congressional vote.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs in more than 30 eligible nations have been supported by AGOA.
The bilateral tariffs that Trump imposed in August, which subjected goods that were previously exported duty-free under AGOA to import duties of 10% to 30% in the United States, have lessened its impact.
