The Ethio-america bilateral relations

Ethiopia and United States first established diplomatic relations in 1903. Despite changing governments, they have maintained their historical relations since then. Ethiopia’s goal is to reach lowermiddle income status by 2025 through sustained economic growth. The state is heavily engaged in the economy and Ethiopia’s growth has been largely driven by state-run infrastructure development. In 2018, Ethiopia had announced that state-owned enterprises, including the railway and the sugar corporation, will be partially privatized while the sectors of aviation, telecommunications, and logistics will be opened to the private sector through the sale of minority shares.

In the recent four fiscal years, Ethiopia approved the homegrown economic Reform Plan that advocates an increased role for the private sector. The bureaucratic bottlenecks are being addressed to improve its rank on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. This is an opportunity for U.S to participate in trade and investment. There are mounting opportunities for U.S. trade and investment, predominantly in manufacturing, energy, and agricultural processing.

The business climate is undergoing significant changes with broad policy reforms. Government is in the process of privatizing leading stateowned enterprises and signaling shift toward market-based reforms and a new flexibility with respect to economic policymaking /International Trade Administration ( ITA)/.

Ethiopia is among the most effective U.S. development partners on the continent, particularly in the areas of health care, education, and food security. As Bureau of African affairs mentioned, Ethiopia was America’s 82nd largest goods trading partner with $1.8 billion in total (twoway) goods trade during 2018. Goods exported total $1.3 billion; goods imports totaled $445 million. But, in 2019 Ethiopia was American’s 84th largest goods trading partner with $1.6 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2019. Goods exports totaled $1.0 billion; goods imports totaled $572 million. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Ethiopia was $442 million in 2019/Executive office of the president of the united states/. For 13 consecutive fiscal years/ 2009-2021/, the average value that U.S had imported from Ethiopia is 303,835,753 u.s dollars /ITA/. U.S. imports from Ethiopia include coffee, oil seeds, textiles and garments where as aircraft, wheat, machinery, shipments, repaired products, and vegetables are its export products and services to Ethiopia. The United States has signed a trade and investment framework agreement with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern AFRICA/COMESA/, of which Ethiopia is a member.

Ethiopia was eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). However, in the past two years, when Ethiopia was at war, the relationship between the two countries was in an unpleasant atmosphere due to false and distorted information on the pretext of human rights violations. As a result, the U.S has gone from imposing an embargo on the foreign travel of Ethiopian leaders to removing Ethiopia from AGOA.

Meanwhile, the delegation led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recently participated in the Us-africa Summit. This conference also created a good opportunity to explain the reality of Ethiopia by personally meeting American officials and international institutions who were holding different positions due to wrong information. At the time, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the "Africa's Outstanding Leadership" award from America's largest institutions for his leadership in the Green Footprint Movement, which will be of great benefit in changing Ethiopia's international image. In the conference, attention was paid to issues that could strengthen partnership of Ethiopia with the U.S in trade and investment sectors, and it was proposed that the U.S and Ethiopia strengthen their partnership in trade sectors, including AGOA.

On the sideline of U.S Africa leaders’ summit, PM. Abiy Ahmed had meetings with U.S Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, Antony Blinken, the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the American investment community on ways of expanding U.s-ethiopia trade relations and strengthening partnership, the implementation of the cessation of hostilities, the political and economic reform initiatives of the government of Ethiopia, and the way forward on revitalizing the historical bilateral relationship. Accordingly, the Ethio-american bilateral relations is on a stage where it can be renewed and return to the old historical and strategic relationship and partnership. Hence, Ethiopia and its friends are full of optimism that America will lift its ban on AGOA.

You can reach the writer via tesfayetadesse19@gmail.com