Biden Urges AGOA Renewal, Update

President Biden is calling on Congress to reauthorize and modernize the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preferences program.

The President's endorsement of AGOA comes as top US officials and African ministers are gathering in South Africa for the annual AGOA forum.

A key topic of these discussions will be renewal of AGOA, which is set to expire in 2025. The Administration and many Congressional lawmakers are hoping to see the program updated for the first time since it was enacted some 20 years ago. Beneficiary countries, however, are worried that AGOA might expire while lawmakers argue over changes to the program. They want to see a straight, long-term renewal of AGOA passed – ideally this year – arguing that Congress would then have plenty of time to modernize the program.

President Biden wants both. "I encourage Congress to reauthorize AGOA in a timely fashion and to modernize this important Act for the economic opportunities of the coming decade," the President said.

The Administration and some lawmakers want to expand the criteria countries must reach in order to benefit from the program and also expand the products available for duty-free access to the US market, particularly to encourage more exports of value-added products from sub-Saharan Africa.

"I am committed to expeditiously working with Congress and our African partners to renew this law beyond 2025, in order to deepen trade relations between our countries, advance regional integration, and realize Africa's immense economic potential for our mutual benefit," Mr. Biden said in a statement.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is leading the US delegation, which also includes Assistant USTR for African Affairs Constance Hamilton, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Middle East and Africa Thomas Bruns; US Export-Import Bank President and Chair of the Board of Directors Reta Jo Lewis and Agriculture Department Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Daniel Whitley, among others.

Friday House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks and Chairman Michael McCaul released the following statement announcing their full support for reauthorizing the AGOA:   "We are committed to working with our colleagues and our African partners to improve AGOA, but we believe the principal consideration must be ensuring a successful and timely reauthorization."