Ag groups push for more reciprocity in African trade preference program

The Trump administration is considering how to overhaul a trade preference program for African economies. U.S. agriculture sees an opportunity to extract trade concessions and reduce trade irritants.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides sub-Saharan African countries with tariff-free access to the U.S. market for more than 1,800 eligible products. The program expired last year, but in February, lawmakers voted to extend the program through the end of 2026 while the administration considers reforms.

In comments submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the American Farm Bureau Federation argued that countries benefitting from the program should have to make meaningful efforts to lower trade barriers in their own markets.

“Preferential access to the U.S. market is a significant benefit; it should be conditioned on meaningful market opening in return,” AFBF’s Vice President of Public Policy and Economic Analysis John Newton wrote.

A slate of comments from groups in the citrus, meat and ethanol industries all used their submissions to complain about the lack of market access from African countries that benefit from the program, including high tariff barriers.

Meat Institute President Julie Anna Potts urged officials to develop a “toolkit” of uniform liberalization measures each country should have to adopt to become eligible for the program. She argued such a policy menu could be based on the administration’s asks from countries as part of negotiations on recent reciprocal trade deals.

A submission from the U.S. dairy industry also argued that commitments on geographical indicators, which have featured prominently in Trump’s recent trade pacts, should also be a prerequisite for AGOA eligibility.

It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of  Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here   

More than a dozen groups, including the National Corn Growers Association, also argued the U.S. should use the program to make progress on biotechnology adoption. Several African countries ban imported products derived from biotechnology, while many more partially restrict them.

“We view AGOA as a complementary tool to incentivize alignment with U.S. trade policy,” the groups wrote in a joint submission. “We implore you to advance efforts that open the door for American agricultural exports.”

Africa is set to be a hotspot for global agricultural demand growth in the coming decades as its population will continue climbing long after populations elsewhere are declining. With China continuing to make inroads on the continent, and Europe already working to corner markets with geographical protections, multiple submissions to USTR stressed the need to use the program to deepen trade ties and develop export markets.

“As Chinese investment and influence in Africa has grown, AGOA stands as the main on-the-ground tool for preserving the United States’ presence and influence in Africa,” a response from the African Coalition for Trade reads. It has fostered both African and U.S. exports and created thousands of U.S. jobs, and hundreds of thousands in Africa, the submission reads.

While several issues need addressing – including how, and when, a country graduates from the program – “it is of critical importance,” the group argues, “that AGOA should be renewed well before its scheduled expiration on December 31, 2026.”