Senator to Renew Push to Grow US Exports to Africa, Latin America

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., plans this year to make another attempt to persuade Congress to pass legislation aimed at boosting U.S. exports to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, a spokesperson for the senator said Aug. 16.

While Durbin’s proposed Increasing American Jobs through Greater Exports to Africa Act was included in the Senate-passed FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), it didn't make it into the final NDAA that President Joe Biden signed into law in December 2023 (see 2312070054). But Durbin’s office is “making efforts to try” to get the export bill into the FY 2025 NDAA that Congress is working on now, his spokesperson told Export Compliance Daily. The Senate version of the FY 2025 NDAA has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee and awaits Senate floor consideration (see 2407300041).

The Durbin bill would direct the president to develop a strategy to increase exports of U.S. goods and services to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean by at least 200% in real dollar value within 10 years of the legislation’s enactment.

“Despite the strong demand for American products, our global competitors, particularly China, have been busy building markets on the African continent and with our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Durbin said last year. “We cannot let the U.S. get left behind.”

In 2023, the U.S. exported $28.7 billion worth of goods to Africa, $322.7 billion to Mexico and $199.7 billion to Central and South America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.