USTR Signs Trade Investment Agreement with Southern Africa, Framework with Eastern Africa
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that on July 16, 2008, USTR Schwab signed the very first Trade, Investment and Development Cooperation Agreement (TIDCA) with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), as well as a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the East African Community (EAC).
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Southern African TIDCA to Increase Trade and Investment, Possible FTA
The U.S.-SACU TIDCA is a formal mechanism to conclude a range of interim trade-related agreements, cooperative work and other trade-enhancing initiatives. It also will allow the U.S. and SACU to develop work plans on key issues such as sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, technical barriers to trade, trade facilitation and investment promotion that should lead to increased U.S.-SACU trade and investment in the near future.
The USTR states that the TIDCA could enhance the U.S.-SACU trade and investment relationship in the short-term and help lead to a possible free trade agreement (FTA) in the longer term.
(The SACU includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, and South Africa and is the largest beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with AGOA imports including a wide-range of goods such as automobiles, minerals and metals, diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, transportation equipment, footwear, textiles, and apparel.)
East African TIFA to Establish Talks on Trade and Investment Topics
The U.S.-EAC TIFA will establish regular, high-level talks on the full spectrum of U.S.-EAC trade and investment topics, including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the World Trade Organization's Doha Round, trade facilitation issues, and trade capacity building assistance.
(EAC member states include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and are also eligible for trade benefits under AGOA.)
USTR SACU press release (dated 07/16/08) available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/July/asset_upload_file628_15019.pdf
USTR EAC press release (dated 07/16/08) available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/July/asset_upload_file56_15018.pdf