Obama kicks South Sudan and Gambia out of Agoa

US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on November 5, 2014. Obama on December 23, 2014 revoked South Sudan’s eligibility for a US preferential trade programme known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). PHOTO | AFP  

In Summary

• Mr Obama also removed Gambia from the programme and reinstated Guinea-Bissau. All the moves take effect on January 1.
• A total of 40 sub-Saharan nations will be eligible to participate in Agoa in 2015.

By KEVIN J. KELLEY
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Washington DC

President Barack Obama on Tuesday revoked South Sudan’s eligibility for a US preferential trade programme known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

Mr Obama also removed Gambia from the programme and reinstated Guinea-Bissau. All the moves take effect on January 1.

A presidential proclamation announcing the actions did not specify the reasons for declaring South Sudan and Gambia ineligible for Agoa benefits.

It instead referred to general standards for eligibility included in the law that established Agoa in 2000.

Two of the requirements are that a country “does not engage in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign policy interests” and “does not engage in gross violations of internationally recognised human rights.”

The US has previously slapped sanctions on four South Sudan military leaders for their roles in a year-long civil war that has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

IMPEDING PEACE EFFORTS

Washington is also drafting a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that would impose international sanctions on South Sudanese found to be impeding settlement of the conflict.

Mr Obama’s action on Gambia appears to be a response to alleged human rights abuses by the West African country’s government, including recent enactment of a law under which persons convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” face life imprisonment.

Expulsion from Agoa has largely symbolic significance in both cases.

Neither South Sudan nor Gambia benefits appreciably from the programme, which permits unlimited quantities of goods from eligible countries to enter the US duty-free. Gambia’s exports to the US last year were valued at $2 million, while South Sudan sold $29,000 worth of forest products to US buyers last year.

A total of 40 sub-Saharan nations will be eligible to participate in Agoa in 2015.