The government of Ethiopia is set to hold negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration on the ten percent tariff recently imposed by the United States on Ethiopian products entering its market.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration Thursday announced the negotiations will also focus on possible ways to reinstate Ethiopia to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a program that allows African countries to export their products to the United States duty and quota-free.
Ethiopian officials have stated that they will engage in negotiations, including putting AGOA on the table, to ensure product exports and national benefit. However, reports indicate that the start date of the negotiations and the US’s stance are not yet clearly known.
Ethiopia was delisted from AGOA due to the conflict in northern Ethiopia and the human rights violations blamed on the government and other parties involved in the war.
President Donald Trump previously imposed tariff increases on countries with the aim of boosting domestic production and creating jobs.
The US leader had stated that his country would lift tariffs if a negotiating proposal that protected its interests was presented.
Accordingly, Ethiopian officials are reportedly preparing to safeguard American interests to maintain the duty-free trade opportunity.
The US has already communicated its interests concerning Ethiopia in agriculture, industry, and other selected sectors that are expected to face tariff increases. Trump’s emergence as a leader who says he’d “rather be dead” than not get what he wants for America from other countries has intensified trade wars with other nations.
Regarding this, a document has reportedly been prepared by Ethiopia and will be sent to the US through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Whether it will be possible to negotiate based on the US’s expressed interests and restore the duty-free trade opportunity remains to be seen.
MG/as/APA