{ "id": "R43173", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43173", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 443207, "date": "2015-06-16", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:56:24.754267", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": "The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. There are 49 candidate SSA countries with 39 currently eligible for the preference benefits. Congress first authorized AGOA in 2000 to encourage export-led growth and economic development in SSA and improve U.S. economic relations with the region. Its current authorization expires on September 30, 2015. \nBills to renew the preference program (H.R. 1891/S. 1009) were introduced in the House and Senate in April. H.R. 1891 was reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means without amendment. The Senate Finance Committee reported a related measure, S. 1267, with two amendments. On May 14, the Senate passed the provisions of S. 1267, by including them as an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1295. On June 11, the House passed a further amended version of H.R. 1295. The two chambers must resolve the differences in H.R. 1295 before the AGOA renewal legislation can be sent to the President and become law.\nIn terms of tariff benefits and general eligibility criteria, AGOA is similar to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a U.S. trade preference program that applies to more than 120 developing countries. AGOA, however, covers more products and includes additional eligibility criteria beyond those in GSP. Additionally, AGOA includes trade and development provisions beyond its duty-free preferences.\nU.S. imports from AGOA beneficiary countries (AGOA countries) represent a small share (1%) of total U.S. imports and are largely concentrated in energy-related products. Oil is consistently the top duty-free U.S. import from AGOA countries, accounting for 68% of such imports in 2014. Despite remaining the top U.S. import under AGOA, U.S. oil imports from the region have fallen by 80% or nearly $40 billion since 2011. Among non-energy products, apparel is the top export for a number of AGOA countries. U.S. apparel imports typically face relatively high tariffs and are excluded from duty-free treatment in GSP, but are included in the AGOA preferences, giving AGOA countries a competitive advantage over other apparel producers. A handful of countries, primarily Lesotho, Kenya, and Mauritius, make significant use of the apparel benefits. Apart from apparel and energy products, South Africa accounts for the bulk of U.S. imports under AGOA. As the most economically advanced country in the region, South Africa also exports a much more diverse range of manufactured goods than other AGOA countries; vehicles in particular have become a major South African export under AGOA.\nMost observers agree that AGOA has successfully led to increased and more diversified exports to the United States from sub-Saharan African countries. Despite this, Congress may wish to address a number of issues and challenges as it considers possible reauthorization of AGOA. Among these challenges is how current and potential AGOA beneficiaries can better utilize the AGOA program and its duty-free benefits. Studies suggest that even among some countries that do make significant use of the AGOA preferences, the lower-skill apparel production which AGOA has spurred has not led to the production of higher-skill manufactured products. Other issues relate to the nonreciprocal nature of the AGOA preferences. Some argue that the United States should focus more on two-way trade agreements with the region, particularly with more advanced countries such as South Africa, given improving economic conditions in Africa in recent years. The European Union (EU), for example, has negotiated Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with several African countries that provide some reciprocal tariff benefits, potentially placing U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage relative to European firms in some markets.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43173", "sha1": "456e7c739550aae7b7fbcf2647bf2126662eb3a9", "filename": "files/20150616_R43173_456e7c739550aae7b7fbcf2647bf2126662eb3a9.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43173", "sha1": "c89a4713cb8440a6e22c1bc08f73b8328ba5ce60", "filename": "files/20150616_R43173_c89a4713cb8440a6e22c1bc08f73b8328ba5ce60.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2212, "name": "Import Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 276, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4102, "name": "Major Economies and U.S. Trade Relations" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc505522/", "id": "R43173_2015Apr22", "date": "2015-04-22", "retrieved": "2015-05-29T05:37:21", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": "This report discusses the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150422_R43173_f64126562ad396facdfe08b0e6ee8c6ed6cd9055.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150422_R43173_f64126562ad396facdfe08b0e6ee8c6ed6cd9055.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid programs", "name": "Federal aid programs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Africa -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Africa -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503392/", "id": "R43173_2015Mar13", "date": "2015-03-13", "retrieved": "2015-04-30T17:37:21", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": "This report seeks to inform the discussion on the potential reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), through analysis of the components of the AGOA legislation; U.S. import trends associated with AGOA; the impact of AGOA on African economies and U.S.-Africa trade; and the issues surrounding the reauthorization process.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150313_R43173_edd1e2ab5fa5bed65067d24a07e3e57f342d0d30.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150313_R43173_edd1e2ab5fa5bed65067d24a07e3e57f342d0d30.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign economic relations -- Africa", "name": "Foreign economic relations -- Africa" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid programs", "name": "Federal aid programs" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462662/", "id": "R43173_2014Jul24", "date": "2014-07-24", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": "This report discusses the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140724_R43173_5f7f0cbf99bff5929fc1d48631573405ea98d817.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140724_R43173_5f7f0cbf99bff5929fc1d48631573405ea98d817.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Africa -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Africa -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid programs", "name": "Federal aid programs" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306526/", "id": "R43173_2014May27", "date": "2014-05-27", "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": "This report discusses the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140527_R43173_d7968f27b402d2ba0733dce96c6575b63fad16e2.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140527_R43173_d7968f27b402d2ba0733dce96c6575b63fad16e2.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Africa" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign economic relations -- Africa", "name": "Foreign economic relations -- Africa" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid programs", "name": "Federal aid programs" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805311/", "id": "R43173_2013Aug02", "date": "2013-08-02", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130802_R43173_d0da1048e758035da976b5ebf2bf41eaa937172a.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130802_R43173_d0da1048e758035da976b5ebf2bf41eaa937172a.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "African Affairs", "Economic Policy", "Foreign Affairs" ] }