Agoa talks focus on Africa policy
WITH the Trump administration’s trade agenda focused on reining in China and renegotiating the North American Free Trade agreement, Africa has barely appeared on the radar screen.
That could change this week as President Donald Trump’s top trade negotiator and other senior US officials head to the West African nation of Togo to review a Clinton-era free trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa, in the administration’s first high-level delegation to visit the region.
Looming over the two-day ministerial is China’s growing role in African trade and influence, as Beijing finances massive infrastructure projects in the region, some through its new Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.
While US exports to sub-Saharan Africa as a whole have doubled to $21.81-billion (R286.7-billion) since 2000, according to US Commerce Department data, they were dwarfed by China’s $102-billion (R1.3-trillion) in exports to the region in 2015.
Also at issue is whether the Trump officials, led by US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, will seek to change the trade agreement before it expires in 2025.
Trump has sought to bolster his “America First” campaign by withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership, threatening to rip up Nafta and seeking to renegotiate the US-South Korea free trade deal.
Launched in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) has been barely mentioned by any Trump officials.
But no moves toward an early renewal or extension of Agoa were expected, Constance Hamilton, the deputy assistant US trade representative for Africa, said.
Lighthizer would stress the importance to the administration of deepening its trade relationship with Africa, but would also caution that African countries should engage in fair trade, eliminate barriers to US exports and abide by the eligibility criteria of the Agoa programme, Hamilton said.
The US trade deficit with the 38 Agoa countries shrank to about $7.9-billion (R103-billion) last year from a peak of $64-billion (R841-billion) in 2008.