USTR Opening Out-of-Cycle Review of Three Countries' AGOA Eligibility

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in consultation with the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is initiating an out-of-cycle review of the eligibility of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to receive benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), USTR said (here). The agency’s decision to review the nations’ eligibility follows a March 21 petition sent to USTR by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART). The group requested an out-of-cycle review to determine whether Kenya and the three other named countries are meeting AGOA eligibility criteria, asserting that a March 2016 decision by the East African Community (EAC) to phase in an import ban on used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the U.S. used clothing industry, and is in violation of the AGOA statutory eligibility criteria to make continual progress toward a market-based economy and slashing barriers to U.S. trade and investment, USTR said. The EAC includes all four countries named in the petition.