WASHINGTON, 03 January 2022, (TON): The United States has cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea out of a duty-free trade programme over alleged human rights violations and recent coups.

In a statement, the US Trade Representative (USTR) said “it terminated the three countries from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute.”

It said that the US was deeply concerned by the gross violations of internationally recognised human rights being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia and other parties amid the widening conflict in northern Ethiopia, as well as by “the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali”.

There was no immediate comment from the Washington embassies of the three African countries.

The AGOA trade legislation provides sub-Saharan African nations with duty-free access to the US if they meet certain eligibility requirements, such as eliminating barriers to US trade and investment and making progress towards political pluralism.