Obama Suspends South African Ag Benefits in AGOA
The administration will suspend African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits for South African agriculture on Jan. 4, President Barack Obama said in a notice to Congress on Nov. 5. “South Africa continues to impose several longstanding barriers to U.S. trade,…
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including barriers affecting certain U.S. agricultural exports,” said Obama in the memo. “South Africa is not making continual progress toward the elimination of barriers to United States trade and investment as required by section 104 of AGOA.” The AGOA law requires a 60-day notice before the removal of benefits. The U.S. has for months pressed South Africa to remove trade remedies and sanitary and phytosanitary barriers (see 1509140023). The administration opted to go with the suspension over full AGOA removal in order to encourage South African reform, said Obama. “Although South Africa has to date failed to meet critical benchmarks required to address these issues, it continues to express an interest in resolving U.S. concerns,” he said.