EXPIRATION LOOMS: Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he expects congressional committees responsible for trade to make meaningful progress toward renewing AGOA this year, ahead of its expiration in September 2025. His comments come as lawmakers push to lower trade barriers with Kenya and other countries in the emerging world. “I'm hopeful that we can at the very least lay the groundwork with both committees, both chambers, for its reauthorization,” by the end of 2024, Coons told Morning Trade on the sidelines of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event Friday with Kenyan president William Ruto. Context needed: Coons said he was "grateful" that Ruto made AGOA’s renewal a “central part" of his dialogues last week with members of Congress, at the tail end of Ruto's week-long visit to Washington. Lawmakers and the Biden administration have been looking to shore up engagement with the sub-Saharan region and the rest of the developing world. Still, Coons acknowledged there are “very few days left” in the legislative session and that the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees have other issues on their agendas that could pull focus. “If Congress does what Congress always does, which is wait until the last minute and not reauthorize until it expires, we put at risk tens of thousands of jobs in Kenya,” Coons argued. Reminder: Last month, Coons introduced a bill alongside Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) to reauthorize and update AGOA — which his office says includes provisions to boost the program’s utilization. The AGOA trade preference program provides eligible African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market for more than 1,800 products. Pile on: The push from Coons reflects a growing pattern in Congress, which is mounting pressure on the Biden administration to break down trade barriers with the wider African region. For instance, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) on Thursday called on the administration to cut a deal with Kenya that would set a “high standard for U.S. engagement in sub-Saharan Africa, including new access for U.S. agriculture.” Up next: Senior trade officials from both countries are gearing up for the sixth round of Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations next week in Mombasa, Kenya, USTR said in a statement. The partnership serves as a replacement to free trade talks that had begun under former President Donald Trump. Kenyan officials primarily view STIP as a stepping stone to an eventual free trade agreement, and top Democrats last week urged the Biden administration to upgrade STIP talks to include market access. STIP talks are expected to wrap up before the end of the year. MORE ON CLUB AGOA: Three House Democrats joined 24 Republicans in a letter calling on USTR Katherine Tai to raise concerns about South Africa’s “non-scientific” U.S. pork restrictions, as the administration weighs whether to alter countries' beneficiary status. “We urge USTR to continue to engage counterparts and utilize all tools available to ensure South Africa provides fair market access for U.S. pork, as outlined in AGOA,” the lawmakers said in a letter dated last week, led by GOP Reps. Greg Murphy (N.C.) and Randy Feenstra (Iowa).
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