Ghana exports $137.1m value of goods to US under AGOA in 2013

Ghana has so far in 2013 exported goods and products worth $137 million to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a new data shows.

The value of the goods exported between January and May this year were higher compared to the same time period in 2012.

The US imported goods valued at $117.5 million from Ghana in the first five months of 2012 under the AGOA initiative, according to the data issued by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) of the US Department of Commerce.

Goods that were sent from Ghana to the US under AGOA’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) provisions were $15 million during the five-month period in 2013, the data indicates.

The country’s total export value of goods to the US under AGOA was $778.9 million in 2011 and $291.2 million in 2012, according to US officials.

Ghana exports products such as cocoa paste, canned tuna, cocoa butter, cashew nuts and articles of plastics to the US.

Ghana is the 14th leading sub-Saharan African exporter of goods to the US among AGOA eligible countries.

The AGOA Act was signed into law on May 18, 2000 as Title 1 of the US Trade and Development Act of 2000. The Act offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets.

President George Bush signed amendments to AGOA, also known as AGOA II, into law on August 6, 2002 as Sec. 3108 of the Trade Act of 2002. AGOA II substantially expanded the preferential access for imports from beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.

Ghana is one of 40 African countries eligible to trade with the US under AGOA.
The agreement which comes to an end in 2015 after President Barack Obama signed a continuation in 2011 is expected to be continued.

By Ekow Quandzie