Inside Trade

September 21, 2025

Africa and The Middle East

Apparel and footwear trade group urges Congress to extend AGOA now

The American Apparel and Footwear Association this week urged Congress to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act for 10 years. In a June 10 letter to the leaders of the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees, AAFA said extending AGOA -- set to expire in 2025 -- now would give companies “the necessary certainty and timeframe they need to grow a vertical, responsible, and competitive industry in Africa up to and past 2025.” “Even though the AGOA...

Nigeria, Egypt name WTO director-general candidates

Nigeria and Egypt on Tuesday became the second and third World Trade Organization members to submit candidates for the director-general position, nominating Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister, and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh, a lawyer and former trade negotiator for Egypt. The two follow Mexico’s nomination of Jesús Seade , the country’s undersecretary for North America, on Monday. WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo is stepping down a year early at the end of August. The African Union is expected to meet this week...

Lighthizer calls for post-pandemic U.S. industrial policy

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday said the United States should establish a post-coronavirus pandemic industrial policy -- which could include increased tariffs and subsidies -- to reshore supply chains so that “all the things that we need” to handle crises are made in the U.S. “We need a policy -- be it subsidies or tariffs or whatever it takes -- we have to have an industrial policy so we never find ourselves in this position again where we’re...

Outside voices: Imagining a U.S.-Kenya trade pact with broader implications

Two longtime specialists in African trade argue this week that that success in upcoming U.S. negotiations with Kenya ultimately may be measured by the degree to which it complements and supports the fledgling African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which nearly 30 African nations, including Kenya, have ratified. “If the U.S.-Kenya free trade agreement is to be a model, negotiators will have to keep its broader applicability to Africa at top of mind,” write Rosa Whittaker, president of the Whittaker Group,...

ITC to investigate economic impact of eliminating tariffs on imports from Kenya

The U.S. International Trade Commission this week kicked off an investigation into the probable economic effects of eliminating tariffs on some imports from Kenya. The move follows a request made in March by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who cited Section 131 of the Trade Act of 1974 as well as “authority delegated by the President” in asking for the probe. USTR in March formally notified Capitol Hill of the administration’s plans to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with Kenya...

U.S. objectives for Kenya deal include new language on anticorruption, SOEs

A U.S.-Kenya trade deal could include novel language addressing anticorruption, state-owned enterprises, e-commerce and more, according to negotiating objectives released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last week. The 19-page summary of the objectives, released on May 22, largely mirrors those that USTR previously released for trade talks with the United Kingdom, European Union and Japan. As outlined in the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority law, formal talks with Kenya can begin 30 days after USTR releases its negotiating...

USTR releases negotiating objectives for a trade deal with Kenya

U.S. negotiating objectives

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USTR solicits comments on AGOA eligibility review

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week will kick off its annual review of sub-Saharan African countries' eligibility for African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits, eschewing a traditional public hearing in lieu of written comments. The AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee is “developing recommendations for the President on AGOA country eligibility for calendar year 2021,” USTR said in a Federal Register notice slated to be published on Wednesday. “Due to COVID-19, the AGOA Subcommittee...

ITC flags digital trade as opportunity, concern in sub-Saharan Africa

U.S. companies have not yet established a strong market presence in the sub-Saharan African region’s growing digital trade environment, in part because of weak intellectual property protections and restrictive digital policies, the U.S. International Trade Commission states in a new report. The ITC last year launched a Section 332 investigation into U.S. trade and investment in sub-Saharan Africa after receiving a request from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer . Its 518-page report on the probe was released on Thursday. USTR...

Chamber executive, industry groups: Digital trade key to U.S.-Kenya deal

As the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative works to nail down negotiating objectives for a trade deal with Kenya, Brionne Dawson, the senior director for East and Southern Africa at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other industry groups are citing digital trade as an area with huge potential for both countries. USTR has been soliciting comments from business groups and other stakeholders on negotiating objectives for trade talks with Kenya, which USTR Robert Lighthizer has told Congress could...

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