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Trump Upholds African Growth and Opportunity Act Trade Preference Eligibility Criteria with Rwanda
President Donald Trump of the United States of America on Tuesday issued a proclamation regarding Rwanda that enforces the eligibility criteria established by Congress for trade preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This proclamation suspends the application of duty-free treatment for all apparel products from Rwanda.
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“We regret this outcome and hope it is temporary,” said Deputy United States Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney. “But if the AGOA eligibility criteria are to have any meaning, they have to be enforced—particularly where, as here, other AGOA members took action in order remain in compliance. The President’s action today is measured and proportional. It suspends AGOA benefits for a class of imports that totaled $1.5 million in 2017, which accounts for approximately only 3% of Rwanda’s total exports to the United States. Rwanda remains eligible to receive non-apparel benefits available under AGOA, and the President’s action does not affect the vast majority of Rwanda’s exports to the United States. We look forward to working with Rwanda to resolve this issue so that benefits in the apparel sector may be restored.”
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When Congress first passed AGOA in 2000, it imposed certain eligibility criteria to encourage recipient countries to adopt free market-oriented development models and to ensure fair market access for United States firms. The AGOA eligibility requirements include: “making continual progress toward establishing . . . a market-based economy . . . [and] the elimination of barriers to United States trade and investment.” 19 U.S.C. 3703(1)(A),(C). The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is charged with enforcing AGOA’s requirements.
An AGOA issue relating to new barriers to United States trade and investment first arose in 2015 when the East African Community (EAC) established a plan to ban imports of used clothing and footwear. The USTR’s engagement on this issue intensified in 2016 when the EAC announced it would phase in the ban by 2019. Thereafter, three EAC AGOA beneficiaries—Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda—worked with the United States and took actions to revise their policies. As a result, they continue to receive full benefits under AGOA. Unfortunately, Rwanda has insisted on keeping in place a policy that has raised tariffs on imports of used apparel and footwear by more than one thousand percent, effectively banning imports of these products.
United States efforts over the past two years to address this issue with the Government of Rwanda have been unsuccessful. As a result, on March 29, 2018, the President determined that Rwanda was not making sufficient progress toward the elimination of barriers to United States trade and investment and was, therefore, out of compliance with AGOA’s eligibility requirements. The President informed the Government of Rwanda of his decision in March, giving Rwanda an additional 60 days to engage with the United States to resolve this problem before the suspension of its apparel benefits under AGOA. Rwanda has, however, continued to insist on retaining its tariffs. The President, therefore, has decided to suspend Rwanda’s duty-free access to the United States for apparel products until Rwanda comes back into compliance with AGOA’s eligibility requirements.
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The President believes suspension of AGOA’s benefits, instead of termination of Rwanda’s status as an AGOA beneficiary, is the appropriate remedy in this instance. The Administration supports continued engagement with the aim of restoring market access for used apparel and bringing Rwanda into compliance with AGOA’s eligibility requirements. The President can reinstate full AGOA benefits for Rwanda once he has determined that Rwanda is meeting the eligibility criteria laid out by Congress.
Twelve inmates have escaped from the Federal Correctional Centre in Kotonkarfe, Kogi State, following an early morning jailbreak on Monday.
Confirming the incident, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, described it as “unfortunate” and assured the public that the government, in collaboration with security agencies, was taking measures to prevent a recurrence.
According to Fanwo, law enforcement officers have already re-arrested one of the escapees.
“The theory that the inmates escaped through the tower without causing any structural damage raises serious concerns. This calls for a thorough investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the escape, arrest the fleeing inmates, and identify possible saboteurs within the system,” he stated.
The commissioner further disclosed that Governor Usman Ododo has directed security agencies to ensure that such breaches do not happen again.
“We call on the public to report any suspicious individuals in their communities. Anyone found harbouring an escaped inmate will be held accountable,” Fanwo warned.
Reassuring residents, he added: “There is no cause for panic. We encourage citizens to go about their daily activities as normal, knowing that the security of lives and property remains our top priority.”
Authorities have yet to disclose further details about the escapees or ongoing efforts to apprehend them.
The United States has announced the termination of legal status for over 500,000 immigrants, ordering them to leave the country within weeks, as President Donald Trump pushes forward with what he calls the largest deportation campaign in American history.
The sweeping directive, issued on Friday, affects approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived under a programme launched by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, in October 2022 and later expanded in January 2023.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the affected immigrants will lose their legal protections 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. This means they must leave the United States by 24 April, unless they secure another immigration status permitting them to stay.
Welcome.US, an organisation that supports asylum seekers, has urged those impacted to “immediately” seek legal counsel regarding their options.
A Reversal of Biden’s Immigration Policy
The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programme, introduced in January 2023, allowed up to 30,000 migrants per month from these nations to enter the United States for two years. The initiative was designed to offer a “safe and humane” alternative to the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border, which had seen a surge in arrivals.
However, the DHS reiterated on Friday that the programme was never meant to provide permanent residency.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated.
Mass Deportations Under Trump
Trump, who has made immigration control a cornerstone of his presidency, has vowed to crack down on migrants—particularly those from Latin America.
Last week, he invoked rare wartime legislation to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, a country that has controversially offered to imprison both migrants and U.S. citizens at a discounted rate.
The latest order signals Trump’s intent to follow through on his hardline immigration policies, raising concerns among human rights advocates about the humanitarian impact of such mass deportations.
Tens of thousands of malnourished Nigerian children face a dire future as lifesaving food supplies are set to run dry, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) warned on Friday, attributing the crisis to a funding shortfall exacerbated by U.S. foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The agency said that within the next two months, 80,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria could lose access to vital treatment, while a total of 1.3 million children under five in Nigeria and Ethiopia remain at risk of starvation this year.
“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by May, and that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia that depend on this type of treatment cannot be served,” UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Kitty Van der Heijden, said in a video press briefing from Abuja. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”
The situation in Nigeria is even more urgent, with UNICEF warning that food supplies for malnourished children could be exhausted as early as the end of this month. Van der Heijden recounted a harrowing experience at a hospital in Maiduguri, where she saw a child so severely malnourished that her skin was peeling off.
U.S. Aid Suspension Escalates Crisis
UNICEF’s funding crisis follows a significant drop in international donor contributions in recent years, compounded by the U.S. government’s decision to halt all foreign aid for 90 days upon Trump’s return to the White House in January.
According to Reuters, the U.S., a major donor to UNICEF, implemented sweeping suspensions on USAID programmes worldwide, disrupting the delivery of essential food and medical aid. The impact has been catastrophic, with global humanitarian efforts thrown into disarray.
“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” Van der Heijden warned, adding that the abrupt nature of the cuts left UNICEF unable to cushion the impact.
Health Services Crippled in Ethiopia
Beyond food shortages, UNICEF highlighted the devastating effects of the funding crunch on health services in Ethiopia. Programmes providing nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children have suffered, with 23 mobile health clinics shut down in Afar, leaving only seven operational.
As the crisis unfolds, humanitarian organisations continue to urge global donors to step in and prevent a full-blown catastrophe. Without urgent intervention, tens of thousands of children in Nigeria and Ethiopia may not survive the coming months.
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