The United States on Saturday, Jan.2 cut off Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea from the duty-free trade program with Africa over alleged human rights abuses and the reports of the recent coups within these countries. "The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea from the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute," the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement on Jan.2. Both Mali and Guinea were removed from the US African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA pact over the recent coups organised by the military leaders. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a United States Trade Act, enacted on 18 May 2000 that boosts the trade partnership and fosters “duty-free” access to the United States market access for the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The pact aims to establish stronger commercial ties between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa via several preferential trade agreements.

Source: Ethiopian News January 03, 2022 08:45 UTC