The African Growth and Opportunity Act, the 25-year-old trade program between the U.S. and sub-Saharan African nations, expired at the end of September. But signs are emerging that it might be resurrected.
On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill with bipartisan support that would extend the act, known as AGOA, for three years.
“Reauthorizing AGOA will provide not only economic benefits, but also strategic benefits in America's efforts to strengthen our critical supply chains, and it will help counter efforts by nations like China and Russia to spread their often harmful influence in Africa,” said Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri who chairs the Ways and Means Committee.