[ Daily News| September 23, 2016 | Inside US Trade]
A report issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in conjunction with the 2016 U.S.-Africa Business Forum lays out key facets and likely evolutions of the U.S. trade relationship with African countries after the unilateral preference arrangement laid out in the African Growth and Opportunity Act expires or is outgrown.
AGOA is likely to expire in 2025, which “provides, at once, a sense of urgency for the development of a new trade and investment framework and, for now, an unprecedented stretch of stability in the trading relationship during which the U.S. Administration, Congress, African partners, and U.S. and African stakeholders can plan, consult, and develop a consensus on this new framework,” the report says.
AGOA, in place since 2000, was renewed for 10 years in 2015. It offers certain sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to the U.S. market so long as they make progress in economic liberalization and development in a number of other areas.
