US removes Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from trade pact
Gulf Times
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President Joe Biden's administration announced on Saturday that it had excluded Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from a US-Africa trade agreement, saying the actions of the three governments violated its principles.
"The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute," the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was put in place in 2000 under the administration of former president Bill Clinton to facilitate and regulate trade between the United States and Africa.
But the United States is "deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali," the statement said.
