Inside Trade

September 21, 2025

Africa and The Middle East

During Africa trade ministerial, Tai eyes AGOA improvements

Opening an African Growth and Opportunity Act Ministerial on Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai sought suggestions from her African counterparts on how to improve the two-decade-old preferential trade program and pledged her support for promoting African integration through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, according to USTR. Tai, who is in Brussels this week, is participating in a two-day virtual AGOA forum, which she said in July would be an opportunity to discuss how to “ build on the...

Kenyan, Mauritian trade ministers call for clarity on AGOA’s future

Ahead of a U.S.-Africa trade ministerial set to be hosted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week, trade ministers from Kenya and Mauritius on Tuesday said they hoped the U.S. would soon provide more certainty about the future of its trade-policy cornerstone with countries in sub-Saharan Africa. “It's really critical for the U.S. to indicate … the sort of regime that it hopes to open up for Africa if AGOA is not extended,” Kenyan Trade Minister Betty...

India, others propose new exceptions in fisheries talks

India and countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region this week proposed revamps of some of the exceptions to proposed disciplines in the World Trade Organization negotiations to curb harmful fisheries subsidies, but the moves to widen the carveouts were met with very mixed reactions in Geneva. Negotiators are aiming to conclude the talks ahead of the 12th ministerial conference starting at the end of November. It would mark one of the few successful multilateral negotiations since the...

Heitkamp to chair Ex-Im Bank Advisory Committee

Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) will chair the Export-Import Bank’s Advisory Committee, the bank’s board of directors announced on Thursday. The committee “advises EXIM on its policies and programs, in particular on the extent to which EXIM provides competitive financing to support American jobs through exports,” and “provides EXIM with guidance from various sectors of the economy to strengthen its support of U.S. exports,” the bank said in a press release announcing Heitkamp’s selection earlier in the day. She will...

U.S-Africa trade ministerial set for October as USTR looks beyond AGOA

A virtual U.S.-Africa “trade ministerial” set for next month will provide a platform for U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to engage with African counterparts and others as USTR looks to chart a path beyond the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a senior agency official said on Wednesday. The U.S.-Africa trade ministerial will be held Oct. 20-21, Deputy Assistant USTR for Africa Bennett Harman said on Wednesday during the U.S.-Ghana Business Forum, a two-day virtual event hosted by the U.S. Chamber...

Chamber representative: Concern about ‘drift’ on U.S.-Kenya trade

The U.S. and Kenya are “keeping the channels open” while the U.S. reviews the state of bilateral trade talks begun during the Trump administration, but a lack of clarity from the Biden trade team on its view of a potential free trade deal has sparked concern in the business community and among some lawmakers about a potential “drift,” said Scott Eisner, president of the U.S.-Africa Business Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Monday...

USTR readout of Tai's meeting with Turkey's minister of trade

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Tai warns Ethiopia: Human rights violations could end AGOA eligibility

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday warned Ethiopian Chief Trade Negotiator Mamo Mihretu that human rights abuses amid a civil war in the country threaten its eligibility for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. In a virtual meeting with Mihretu, whose full title is senior policy adviser and chief trade negotiator, Tai “raised the ongoing violations of internationally recognized human rights amid the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia, which could affect Ethiopia’s African...

Republican senators urge Tai to prioritize Kenya FTA negotiations

Republican senators are pressing U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to prioritize negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Kenya, which they say would “build on” the African Growth and Opportunity Act and integration efforts underway on the continent. In an Aug. 20 letter to Tai , seven Republican senators -- including Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and former Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) -- said a U.S.-Kenya FTA would be “the appropriate next step in...

Former AUSTR: Africa trade policy approach cannot be ‘one-size-fits-all’

The U.S. must take a “multifaceted” approach to its trade policy in Africa, according to former assistant U.S. Trade Representative Florizelle Liser, who told lawmakers on Wednesday she sees “no conflict” with pursuing a trade agreement with Kenya, continuing unilateral trade preferences for certain other countries on the continent and supporting African integration efforts. Liser testified at a Senate Finance subcommittee on Africa and global health policy hearing on U.S. trade and investment in Africa. She served as AUSTR for...

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