The Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) was created to incentivize two-way trade between the U.S. and sub-Saharan African countries. It allows the president to offer duty-free access to certain nations. But, as U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Director of Export Services Jim Remcheck explains, some of the countries benefitting from AGOA have prohibitive restrictions on imports of U.S. beef and pork.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on the implementation of AGOA, and USMEF submitted a letter outlining several concerns including:
- Numerous trade obstacles for U.S. pork exports to South Africa, as well as South Africa’s high tariffs on U.S. beef
- Nigeria being closed to all imports of U.S. fresh/frozen red meat, with only a narrow range of processed products eligible
- Angola’s import license-related ban on certain beef offal, and inconsistent issuance of import permits for beef livers and pork offal
- Namibia currently prohibits imports of all U.S. red meat and has stopped issuing transit permits
- Market access barriers and lack of regulatory clarity that inhibit red meat trade with Kenya, as well as high tariffs
Remcheck says while AGOA has typically been used to advance changes in human rights, worker rights or political reforms, it could also be used to leverage market access for U.S. agricultural products.
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