WTO Rep Lauds U.S.-Central African Economic Ties
The U.S. supports Central African economic integration and strengthened commercial ties with American industry players, Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization David Shark said July 29, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). As part of a prepared statement delivered during the WTO Trade Policy Review of the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) (here), Shark advised the five member nations present, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Chad and Cameroon, to optimize the abundance of natural resources in the region to stimulate development.
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CEMAC member state Equatorial Guinea is not a WTO signatory and therefore did not participate in the review. Shark welcomed pursuing the admittance of Equatorial Guinea into the WTO. Shark said the U.S. acknowledges and praises CEMAC strides to integrate regional economies through barrier elimination.
“We support these undertakings with the expectation that they advance and complement the multilateral trading system, and do not seek to raise barriers to non-members of the regional economic community while they lower barriers amongst their own members,” said Shark. “CEMAC member states and members of other African regional economic communities need to work to simultaneously integrate themselves both regionally and into the global market.”
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has provided critical lifelines to African economies since its 2000 launch, Shark said. In 2012, U.S. imports from CEMAC totaled over $8 billion, with non-oil imports exceeding $360 million. Shark identified cocoa paste, coffee, rubber articles, gum arabic, plywood, apparel, footwear and fruit as primary non-oil U.S. imports from the region. “Most of the exports from CEMAC to the United States enter the U.S. market duty-free either on a most favored nation (MFN) or on a preferential basis,” said Shark. AGOA, "combined with the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) provisions have provided opportunities for real people and businesses, and contributed to the growth of African economies through expanded and diversified trade, and we are encouraged by AGOA’s positive trends.”
Shark also noted binding tariff violations by the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Gabon “as a result of the adoption of the CEMAC common external tariff.” He pledged WTO investigation into the violations, as well as Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Gabon duty and tax inconsistencies.