The United States (US) government on Saturday announced Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea have been excluded from a US-Africa trade agreement due to the actions of the three governments, reported CGTN Africa.
“The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute,” the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) came into effect in 2000 under former president Bill Clinton’s administration to facilitate and regulate trade between Washington and Africa. The pact provides sub-Saharan African nations with duty-free access to the US if they meet certain eligibility requirements, such as eliminating barriers to US trade and investment and making progress towards political pluralism.
A total of 38 countries were eligible for AGOA in 2020. The US Congress had amended the agreement in 2015, which extended the program until 2025.
In November, US President Joe Biden had warned that the government would cut off Ethiopia from the AGOA duty-free trading regime due to alleged human rights violations in the conflict-hit Tigray region. He also warned about the exclusion of Mali and Guinea from the regime due to recent coups.
According to the USTR statement, the US government has taken the decision as it is deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change in governments in Guinea and Mali, and by the gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in Ethiopia.
The 13-month-long conflict in Ethiopia has killed tens of thousands of people and forced over 400,000 people to live in famine-like conditions.
As per the statement, Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali can rejoin the pact if they met the statute’s provisions.
“Each country has clear benchmarks for a pathway toward reinstatement and the Administration will work with their governments to achieve that objective,” it said.
