| The African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the cornerstone
of the Bush Administration’s trade and investment policy toward sub-Saharan
Africa, which is promoting free markets, expanding U.S.-African trade
and
investment, stimulating economic growth, and facilitating
sub-Saharan Africa’s integration
into the global economy. As a result of AGOA,
substantially all imports from
sub-Saharan Africa are eligible to enter the United States duty-free. In 2003,
over 95 percent of
U.S. imports from AGOA eligible countries entered
duty-free.
The United States is sub-Saharan
Africa’s largest
single country export market, accounting for 20 percent of the region’s total
exports in 2002. AGOA has helped to bolster
U.S.-sub-Saharan trade and
investment. Total trade between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa was just under
$33 billion in 2003, with U.S. exports of almost $7 billion and imports of $25.6
billion. |
