Inside Trade

September 21, 2025

Africa and The Middle East

State’s Campbell: Congress should reauthorize AGOA immediately

The renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act is a “critical” piece of the Biden administration’s plans to compete with China, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this week, urging Congress to “get it done.” During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the U.S.-China competition beyond the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a lead sponsor of a bill to reauthorize AGOA, asked Campbell about the importance of the AGOA program, which provides trade preferences to...

U.S., Kenya set seventh STIP session for next week

The U.S. and Kenya next week will hold a seventh in-person Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiating round in Nairobi, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Tuesday. In a July 30 statement , USTR said the Aug. 5-9 round would “primarily cover six topics: (1) agriculture; (2) customs, trade facilitation, and enforcement; (3) environment; (4) good regulatory practices; (5) inclusivity; and (6) workers’ rights and protections.” The sixth round was held in June, in Mombasa, Kenya. Negotiators...

Commerce signs MOU with Nigeria’s trade ministry

The Commerce Department last week inked a memorandum of understanding with Nigeria’s Trade Ministry to create a “Commercial and Investment Partnership” aimed at boosting trade ties, particularly for the digital economy, the department announced. On the sidelines of last week’s African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in Washington, DC, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Nigerian Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite signed an MOU aimed at “enhancing commercial ties and helping to facilitate increased bilateral trade and...

AUSTR Hamilton: AGOA renewal likely early next year

Legislation to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act is likely to advance in early 2025, according to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for African Affairs Constance Hamilton, who says she’s confident the program will be reauthorized before it expires next September but doesn’t anticipate action before the end of this year. “I can't give you a date to predict when it might happen,” Hamilton told reporters during a call on Monday, stressing that AGOA’s renewal was in Congress’ hands. AGOA...

U.S., African officials upbeat on AGOA renewal prospects as forum ends

Top U.S. and African officials on Friday sounded optimistic notes about prospects for renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act, with the African Union’s top trade official touting strong assurances from Washington about its renewal – though not citing any timeline for when the process might be concluded. African Union Minister of Trade and Industry Albert Muchanga spoke about the future of the U.S. trade-preference program, set to expire in September 2025, during the closing ceremony of the 21st AGOA...

Presidential advisory group meeting on AGOA rescheduled for Aug. 8

A meeting of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa set to focus on recommendations for renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act has been rescheduled for next month. The meeting, initially scheduled for this week, will take place on Aug. 8, according to a Federal Register notice by the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration set to be published on Monday. The PAC-DBIA, established in 2014, is a group of U.S. business representatives that advises the president, via...

African trade ministers issue joint recommendations on renewing AGOA

Trade ministers from African countries on Thursday issued a collective call to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act by the end of this year with “non-controversial” improvements including simplified rules of origin and less frequent eligibility reviews, according to an African Union readout obtained by Inside U.S. Trade . “We express the importance of an expeditious renewal of AGOA with non-controversial enhancements and amendments for a minimum of 16 years to provide the required predictability and certainty to the...

South African trade minister warns against using AGOA for political ends

South Africa’s trade minister, representing a new coalition government seeking to smooth diplomatic relations with the U.S., on Thursday warned against using the African Growth and Opportunity Act for “political” purposes. “We caution against using AGOA as a tool for political objectives. We applaud that the U.S. has kept it as a trade and development instrument that benefits ordinary people, and it should be kept as such,” South African Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Mpho Parks Tau said during the...

Sen. Graham proposes tariffs on goods from countries importing Iranian oil

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require the imposition of tariffs on goods from countries that import oil or petroleum products from Iran. The “Tariffs For Terrorism Act of 2024 ” would direct the president to increase duties to “[no] less than the equivalent of 500 percent ad valorem” rate for all goods and services imported from countries that import Iranian oil, according to the bill text. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and...

Biden calls on Congress to quickly ‘reauthorize and modernize’ AGOA as forum begins

As the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum began in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, President Biden called on Congress to “reauthorize and modernize” the program quickly, a sentiment shared during forum events by other administration officials who advocated for an AGOA that is responsive to 21st-century issues like climate change and supply chain resilience. The July 24-26 AGOA Forum week includes events like a private-sector session on Wednesday and a civil society and organized labor forum that took place on...

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