African manufacturers welcome US trade deal, call to finalise it / Photo: SIMON MAINA - AFP
-
West must embrace 'national power' or face decline: Rubio
-
Kyiv 'cannot agree' to EU membership limiting food exports: minister
-
Shell refining margins reach record highs as wars hit supply
-
Arteta targets more Arsenal glory after signing new deal until 2030
-
Former Spain, Barca winger Pedro retires from football
-
Russell hit with Singapore grid penalty for taking new power unit
-
Arteta signs new Arsenal deal until 2030
-
Spotify expands audiobooks to more than 180 markets
-
Stocks decline as oil climbs on Mideast flareup
-
French-Japanese duo wins chemistry Nobel for solving molecular 'mystery'
-
Gauff says online abuse was 'draining' after China Open exit
-
England's Nations League surge helps heal World Cup wounds
-
As sector struggles, Porsche puts luxury ahead of volume
-
Mayor of opposition stronghold Izmir defects to Erdogan party
-
'It's personal': Fiji minister pushes better climate finance at pre-COP
-
Mertens beats Gauff to set up Swiatek clash at China Open
-
Russia glosses over dark Soviet past in reinvented museum
-
Benin full of pride at role in Messi's last dance
-
UK tax body opened probe into Man City in 2018: FT
-
France suspends stun grenade use at student protests ahead of PM speech
-
Yemen's Houthis claim new attacks on Saudi airports as conflict deepens
-
Indonesian court hears 'negligence' complaint against state over fires, haze
-
Germany factory production at highest level for 18 months
-
Rubio in Greece to urge against Western civilisation 'decline'
-
Thailand floods death toll rises to 60 since mid-September
-
Micron workers at Taiwan plant vote in favour of strike
-
US pushes Russia for information on plague reports
-
In 'The Social Reckoning,' Jeremy Allen White takes on Facebook's 'frightening' ambition
-
Myanmar leader lands in Malaysia for migrant return talks
-
Chip industry activists call for South Korea to recognise cancer cases
-
Indian central bank hikes rates for first time since 2023
-
Famine-scarred southern Madagascar braces for El Nino
-
US military on Okinawa face curfew, alcohol ban after murder case
-
How the EU regulates lobbyists
-
Fierce lobbying in EU over 'forever chemicals'
-
I.Coast refuge offers lifelong care for youngsters scorned as 'sorcerers'
-
Dodgers beat Braves and Padres avoid sweep in MLB playoffs
-
Indian central bank hikes rates for first time in more than 3 years
-
Mourning, war and elections as Israel marks October 7
-
Hotel Blacklist Launches New Accommodation Industry Risk Assessment Tool
-
Messi says Argentina retirement is 'saddest day of my career'
-
Bangladesh nuclear plant draws hope -- and worry
-
Oil rises and stocks fall as Hormuz worries flare
-
US beat Canada 1-0 to wrap up four-win international break
-
Pacific presses world for help 'surviving' climate change at pre-COP summit
-
Turkey, Australia's joint COP31 leadership raises doubts
-
Verstappen revival to be put to the test in steamy Singapore
-
For Turkish NGOs, COP31 offers rare space for action
-
US woman who survived botched execution is conscious, speaking: lawyers
-
Sleep, appetite, gene-editing experts contend for Nobel chemistry prize
African manufacturers welcome US trade deal, call to finalise it
African manufacturers on Wednesday welcomed US lawmakers' approval for renewing their duty-free access but called for urgency in finalising the deal.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a cornerstone of trade relations for 25 years, allowing the United States to buy billions of dollars of duty-free cars, clothes and other items from select African countries each year.
But the deal, which operates in 32 African nations, expired last September, putting thousands of jobs at risk and forcing exporters to absorb high tariff duties.
On Tuesday, the US Congress passed a bill to revive AGOA for at least three years, but it must still be approved by the Senate.
The Congress vote was "a very positive sign", said Pankaj Bedi, CEO of United Aryan factory, which exports Wrangler and Levi's jeans under the deal and employs around 10,000 Kenyans.
"But we need to keep the pressure up," he told AFP. "It is our desperate need as the sector continues to slow down and suffer due to cash flows and many other external challenges."
Bedi said his company has been absorbing the increased import duties -- which went up by 33 percent for Kenya after AGOA expired -- so as not to lose customers, but said this is not "sustainable".
Kenya's trade minister Lee Kinyanjui welcomed the approval by the US House of Representatives, calling it a "critical milestone" in US-Africa trade relations.
"The uncertainty that had previously engulfed the sector will now give way to renewed confidence and expansion," Kinyanjui said in a statement.
South Africa, which has been at loggerheads with the US in recent months, also hailed the approval.
Its trade minister Parks Tau said the country "values its longstanding trade and investment relationship with the US".
US President Donald Trump has criticised free-trade deals, and slapped swingeing tariffs on many countries.
South Africa was the primary beneficiary of the preferential agreement before it expired. The automotive sector accounted for 64 percent of trade under AGOA, totalling $1.6 billion in 2024, and is the sector most affected by Trump's measures.
L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST