AGOA Exclusion for Ethopia and Uganda Questioned in Annual Review

Witnesses at the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act eligibility review hearing contradicted an earlier comment from the Ethiopian government, which argued that Tigray has been relatively peaceful since November 2022, and basic services such as electricity, water, phone service, education and healthcare have been restored in the region. "Following widespread and substantial reforms of the food assistance structure, which allowed for enhanced oversight and beneficiary selection, USAID resumed food assistance across Ethiopia," Ethiopian representatives wrote.

The AGOA eligibility review is led by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, with participation from agencies across the administration, including the Treasury, State and Labor departments. The hearing was held June 27.

Ethiopia had been the fifth-largest participant in AGOA before it was terminated at the beginning of 2022, and exported almost $129 million of goods to the U.S. covered by the program before its eligibility was withdrawn. "Ethiopia has already met all the benchmarks set by the USTR," an Ethiopian Embassy representative wrote.

Dawit Kassa, a physician from the Tigrayan Health Professionals Group, testified at the hearing that doctors and nurses have been working without pay in Tigray, and that its members treated the 60,000 casualties of the civil war in Tigray. He said crimes against humanity were rampant during the conflict, but the peace agreement in 2022 has not ended the suffering. His hospital on average sees 18 women a day who were victims of sexual violence, and 80% of the patients come from Ethiopian-military occupied areas of Tigray, Kassa said.

"While AGOA has brought economic benefits, ongoing human rights violations cannot be ignored," he said.

Robel Alemu, from the Amhara Association of America, told the committee not to believe "recent diplomatic assurances" from Ethiopia, arguing that the country is blatantly violating human rights and political pluralism requirements for AGOA participation.

Alemu said the U.N., human rights organizations and journalists have reported on government actions in 2023 and 2024 such as mass arrests, torture, rape, destruction of cultural heritage and restricted humanitarian access, as well as drone attacks against rebel groups that kill civilians. While the rebels also are responsible for human rights violations, Alemu said, 70% are by the Ethiopian government itself, according to observers' analysis. Alemu said Human Rights Watch has reported summary executions in Amhara villages. He also said the government has executed mass arrests of opposition figures, journalists and members of civil society, either for their beliefs, or due to Amhara ethnic identity.

Show the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed "regime that the perpetrators of atrocities are punished, not rewarded," Alemu said.

The AGOA Biennial Report, published by USTR June 28, suggested that the opponents of restoring Ethiopia to the AGOA would have a receptive audience in the administration. The report said: "There are continued credible reports of human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia, which include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest or detention, torture, and conflict-related sexual violence. Serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom and substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and association are also cause for concern."

Several other witnesses at the hearing argued for restoring Uganda to eligibility -- it was terminated from the program due to a harsh anti-homosexuality law that passed in 2023.

Cody Lorance, co-CEO of Endiro Coffee, a coffeeshop in Illinois, and Endiro Limited, a coffee shop chain and coffee roasting business in Uganda, argued that the law's passage is a "setback," and that he keeps arguing against it. He also noted that the Ugandan Constitutional Court struck down parts of the law, such as restricting healthcare access to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, making it illegal to rent apartments or homes to them, and obligating people to report suspected homosexuality.

"The overall trajectory I’ve seen in the last decade-plus is Uganda progressing, slowly, but steadily progressing on human rights, development, human rights," he said.

USTR's Director of Africa Affairs Jeremy Streatfeild told Lorance that while some eligibility requirements are to make steady progress, there is no "progress" modifier when it comes to gross violations of human rights -- a country cannot have these violations and qualify.

Africa Global Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit in Illinois, also participated in the hearing, and Chairman Olivier Kamanzi said that he has family members who are gay, and he went to Uganda to see what the impact of the law has been.

"Are people being arrested? What I found on the ground was different," he said. He said he talked about the law with the president of Uganda, with the attorney general, and met with landlords. "So far, they told me, no one has been arrested so far since the enactment of the bill. We are continuing to monitor to make sure this bill’s improved, to make sure no person is being refused basic human rights, healthcare or whatever."

Ahead of the hearing, the National Pork Producers called for Nigeria and South Africa to be removed from AGOA, because of sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to U.S. pork exports.

"South Africa is currently the largest non-oil beneficiary of AGOA, exporting over $3.6 billion of goods under the program to the United States in 2022," the group wrote.

Pork exporters' complaints date back to 2013 (see 13111826), but the U.S. has never suspended South Africa over market access issues. It did threaten a suspension on agricultural products only -- South African citrus is an AGOA-covered export -- but South Africa changed enough of its sanitary and phytosanitary policies on poultry and pork that the U.S. didn't have to follow through (see 1511050051 and 1603140056).

The NPP also asked that Nigeria be removed from the program, because it has a ban on importing raw pork. The group said Nigeria is the second-largest beneficiary, with $3.5 billion in exports in 2022.

South Africa's Solidarity Research Institute Economic Researcher Theuns du Buisson asked the committee to remember union members in the automotive, chemical and agricultural industries that rely on AGOA benefits for exports to the U.S.

"We urge the U.S. government to continue to include South Africa in AGOA and to extend it for at least a decade," he said.

He didn't elaborate on why South Africa's participation would be in jeopardy, but in a comment submitted ahead of the hearing, he wrote:" It is our sincere wish that the people of South Africa would be looked upon favorably and that AGOA would be renewed with South Africa still being one of the beneficiaries, despite the ideological positions that some of our government officials may hold."

The biennial report did acknowledge that "senior Administration and Congressional officials have voiced concern over the country’s positions on key geo-political issues," but said that did not rise to the level of engaging in activities that undermine U.S. national security interests. That is the eligibility criterion.

Several witnesses asked the committee to renew AGOA this year, or to change the terms of when countries graduate due to income growth, but the committee doesn't have that authority; Congress does.

Madagascar's Charge d'affaires Amielle Niriniavisoa Marceda said AGOA benefits result in 200,000 jobs in her country in the apparel sector. She said that if Mauritius were to graduate from AGOA, it could hurt Madagascar, as Madagascar buys fabric made in Mauritius.

Marceda said she supports a bill introduced in the Senate that would extend AGOA for 16 years past its 2025 expiration and possibly make country reviews less punitive. It would also offer more generous terms to countries that would graduate in the current statute (see 2404120007).

Madagascar is the second-largest textile and apparel exporter in the United States under AGOA, she said. Because duties are so high on apparel, Madagascar can only export competitively with the tariff breaks.

The country was suspended from AGOA for 2009-2015, and as a result, she said, "we experienced a collapse in our industrial fabric, so that speaks volumes about what AGOA achieved and can achieve…."

Schuyler Reidel, a trade attorney and licensed customs broker in Texas, told the committee that the administration should reduce how much foreign policy issues play into AGOA eligibility reviews. "AGOA eligibility is being used as an instrument, in some circumstances, for foreign policy," as opposed to a way to foster economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, as it is designed to do, he argued.

He also suggested that annual reviews make it difficult for companies to plan investments. The bipartisan Senate bill agrees, and would reduce the frequency of reviews.

U.S. Fashion Industry Association President Julie Hughes told the committee that apparel is the second-largest category of exports covered by AGOA, second only to oil and gas, but that imports in the category have been relatively flat since 2007. She said there is substantial interest among fashion brands to lessen their reliance on China and explore sourcing from sub-Saharan Africa, but companies "need reliability that the benefits will remain in place." She added, "We are making that case to the Congress."

According to the new biennial report, motor vehicles are No. 2, at $1.9 billion -- those are from South Africa -- and apparel is third, at $1.1 billion in 2023, down from $1.4 billion in 2021. Kenya, Madagascar and Lesotho were significant suppliers of apparel under AGOA in 2023, the report said.