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On November 6, 2015, the U.S. Trade Representative announced that the President sent notifications to Congress and to South Africa indicating that he intends to suspend benefits to South African agricultural products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for failure to meet the eligibility requirements of the Act. Specifically, the President determined that South Africa is not making continual progress towards eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment. The President intends to take action 60 days after the notification to suspend benefits to the agricultural sector, unless South Africa meets certain benchmarks to eliminate barriers to U.S. poultry, pork, and beef. This determination is the product of an “out-of-cycle” review of South Africa that was mandated by Congress in Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (TPEA). USTR will closely monitor developments in this area and consider taking further steps as necessary to ensure the requirements of AGOA are met. |
