Agoa Extension Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the diligent work of the full committee chairman, Chairman Smith, to prioritize this issue.

Madam Speaker, we have an opportunity to advance the bipartisan legacy of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a program which has been a pillar of U.S. trade and economic engagement throughout sub- Saharan Africa.

As we all know, trade requires consistent engagement. With over 17,000 tariff lines and complex supply chains, trade is a detailed and dynamic system which values certainty.

AGOA is a unique opportunity to strengthen trading relationships through market signals and cooperation on our partners' trade and investment policy, rule of law, as well as worker and human rights. We cannot sit on the sidelines while our global adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party, spread their malign influence across the continent.

As the Trump administration engages on trade, AGOA can be a complementary trade policy as we look to build mutually beneficial reciprocal trade. Though preference programs can be the foundation of our engagement with developing countries, they should never be the extent of it.

Take Kenya, for example. It has been a beneficiary of the program since it began. When AGOA first went into effect in 2000, Kenya had very limited trade with the United States. Under AGOA, Kenya's GDP has grown exponentially, as have their imports from the U.S. As their economy has succeeded, so has their capacity for trade.

This was why I was so eager to see the first Trump administration work to advance bilateral negotiations with Kenya, and I hope to see continued progress with Kenya and other potential partners.

As the world works to avoid overreliance on unreliable single sources, redundant supply chains for both inputs and markets for our outbound products are key. Stronger partnerships across Africa can be a solution for many of these items, from critical minerals to agriculture.

With the fastest growing population and untapped economic potential, we must maintain reliable and proactive engagement across the continent.

Madam Speaker, again, I welcome all my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan program.

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