Publication

This brief describes the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which took effect in January 2001, that allows qualifying sub-Saharan African countries to export qualifying goods duty free to the US. The document shows that the act was expressly designed to "increase trade and investment between the US and sub-Saharan Africa." However, the author highlights that most of the AGOA benefits have gone to oil exporters, that the imports eligible for duty-free treatment are still being taxed notwithstanding their eligibility, and that AGOA has not yet increased trade flows from eligible countries to the US.