Africa: We Need a New U.S. Trade Framework
As the White House scrambles to keep pace with the fast changes taking place across North Africa, the administration should reassess another vital aspect of U.S. policy toward the continent – preferential trade.
For more than a decade, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) has been the cornerstone of commercial and trade relations between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. By providing African countries with non-reciprocal access to the American market, Agoa was a bold effort to employ trade as a stimulus for economic development.
The story of Agoa, unfortunately, is that of a promise unfulfilled.