The United States (US) President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his government has decided to suspend Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali from the Africa trade program over alleged human rights violations and political repression reported Reuters.
In a statement, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the three countries will lose their duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) starting Jan. 1. The scheme provides tariff-free access to the US market for African manufacturers.
In a letter to Congress, President Biden announced his intention to disqualify Ethiopia from the scheme saying that the African country is under fire for its gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in its conflict with Tigrayan forces.
The suspension follows a previous executive order that sanctioned Ethiopians involved in violence in the Tigray region.
Biden said that the situation in northern Ethiopia, which is currently characterized by widespread violence, atrocities, and serious human rights abuses, poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
Meanwhile, the US government accused Mali of failing to protect the human rights of the people, rule of law, and political pluralism following two military coups in less than a year. In May, Col Assimi Goïta, who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government, ousted Mali’s President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane. He claimed that the two failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition.
In September, Guinean President Alpha Condé was posted by the military junta which dissolved the government and constitution and removed senior public officials from office.
The US statement said Guinea is being suspended for not having established, or not making continual progress toward establishing the protection of the rule of law and of political pluralism.
