US says African free trade agreement needs 'reciprocity'

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The State Department's top official for Africa on Tuesday said a major US-African trade deal, hanging in the balance amid President Donald Trump's upending of global trade, will likely need more "reciprocity" in order to be renewed.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides duty-free access to the United States for a slew of African products, but is up for review in September. The recent turmoil unleashed by Trump's protectionist trade policy and scepticism toward trade deficits has only added to the uncertainty over its fate.

"My expectation is that if there's going to be a renewal of AGOA it will probably reflect the modern world" Troy Fitrell, senior bureau official at the Bureau of African Affairs, said during a press call with African media.

"There will probably will need to be a much greater form of reciprocity," Fitrell said, adding that the future of US trade with the continent would likely "be focused around a reciprocal relationship, one that addresses the needs on both sides."

The comments came as Fitrell said the State Department was taking a backseat to promoting an extension of the accord, saying that it was up to African diplomats to lobby the US Congress.

"When they asked me, what have you done to help renew AGOA, I turned it around and asked, 'what have you done to renew AGOA?'" Fitrell said.

Fitrell added that some African countries have asked for "free trade areas" with the United States -- proposals that Washington has viewed favourably.

Fitrell was speaking to journalists to promote Trump's diplomatic strategy of promoting business investment over traditional development aid on the continent -- though with "trade not aid" being a long-time slogan in Washington, it remains to be seen how recent deal-making will differ from that overseen by previous administrations.

Critics have said the gutting of foreign aid, however, is imperilling private sector projects in Africa as the Trump administration pushes cuts at the Millennium Challenge Corporation -- a US agency that provides financing for projects such as road infrastructure in Ivory Coast and electricity access in Senegal.

AGOA was launched in 2000 under Democratic President Bill Clinton and allows duty-free access on certain conditions, including political pluralism, respect for human rights and fighting corruption.

To date, some 30 of the 50 countries on the African continent benefit from the accord, which covers a wide range of products, from clothing to cars.

In 2023, $9.26 billion worth of goods were exported under the accord, of which $4.25 billion were products from the oil or energy sector, according to the United States International Trade Commission (USITC).