Africa and The Middle East

Short supply chains provide “more shock absorption” to protect against disruptions, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Wednesday, touting the Biden administration’s developing economic initiative with Western Hemisphere partners as a key effort to develop stronger, closer links. “We need more resilience in our supply chains, we need more shock absorbers, we need more Plan B's,” Tai said during a discussion after she delivered remarks about the Biden administration’s trade agenda at American University Washington College of Law. “And...

The Kenyan trade minister expects to wrap up trade and investment talks with the U.S. by the end of the year and sign a deal by next April, according to a new report, although the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is not ready to set a deadline. The Biden administration and Kenya launched their Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership last year and held initial “conceptual” talks in February. The previous administration had launched free trade agreement talks, but its...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday expressed hope that Ethiopia eventually will regain benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act as it continues to implement an accord reached last year to end a civil war in the Tigray region. The “bottom line is certainly we share the aspiration of Ethiopia returning to AGOA,” Blinken told reporters during a visit to the country’s capital, according to a transcript issued by the State Department. “And as it continues to implement...

U.S. and African industry groups are coordinating a press for the renewal this year of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, echoing a unified call by African trade ministers to ensure the program’s extension is not left in doubt as it nears expiration in 2025. The developing effort, informally called the AGOA Renewal and Enhancement Alliance, includes representatives from the private sector as well as some African countries. They discussed the program’s renewal during a meeting last month hosted by...

African trade ministers late last year urged the U.S. to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act for another decade -- and to ensure that extension is in place by the fall, according to a document recently obtained by Inside U.S. Trade . The ministers' message was outlined in a document , provided to Inside U.S. Trade by Madagascar’s embassy in Washington, that was conveyed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during an AGOA ministerial meeting hosted...