AGOA Renewal Could Open Door for Apparel Integration in Africa, AAFA VP Tells ITC
Renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides unique opportunities for vertical integration in Africa’s apparel industry, said American Apparel & Footwear Association Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar in testimony submitted to the International Trade Commission (here). “Ten years of uninterrupted duty free access, combined with state-of-the-art flexible rules of origin, give us both the timeframe and wherewithal to generate demand for local production of these inputs,” Lamar said in prepared remarks. Congress in June reinstated the 15-year-old unilateral preferences program until 2025. Lamar said AGOA renewal could trailblaze the advancement of manufacturing of apparel materials on the continent, noting that while raw inputs—including cotton, petroleum for synthetics, and cattle for hides—reside there, intermediate materials are almost always imported.
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U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman also thinks AGOA’s renewal allows more room for industrial integration in Africa. With commodity prices falling and with China, a prominent investor in Africa, posting lower gains, countries on the continent should associate themselves with policies that promote general regional integration, Froman stated in remarks submitted to the ITC hearing (here). He noted that African countries are already strengthening mutual links through groups such as Tripartite and African Continental Free Trade Area initiatives, as well as links with the European Union through reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements.