Revoke Uganda’s AGOA Benefits Now
June 22, 2023 – The Council for Global Equality met this month with Ambassador Katherine Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative, to call for the suspension of Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free trade access to U.S. markets for qualifying African countries. The appeal is based on the severe and still-escalating persecution of the country’s LGBTQI+ community.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law in May the most draconian piece of legislation targeting LGBTQI+ individuals anywhere in the world, a law that requires reporting of suspected LGBTQI+ persons and creates the legal foundations for mass atrocities. The new law significantly increases already harsh criminal penalties to life in prison or death, and it now even criminalizes those who advocate for the rights of LGBTQI+ persons with 20 years in prison and even those who rent housing or local accommodations to them with 7 years in prison. Under the law, corporations now must report suspected LGBTQI+ employees and customers to the authorities for criminal investigation. This new legal framework is genocidal in its intent, and it clearly contravenes the ideals that animate the AGOA trade framework.
Initially enacted in 2000 to support economic growth and development in Africa, AGOA qualifying countries must demonstrate progress in developing market-based economic policies, securing the rule of law, combating corruption, and protecting human rights. Countries that qualify automatically receive preferential trade access to U.S. markets. But the qualifications are intended to be strict. President Biden terminated preferential benefits in December 2021 for Ethiopia and Mali on human rights grounds, and several other countries have previously been terminated on rule of law grounds. Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Eritrea also remain suspended over human rights concerns.
The Council welcomes President Biden’s statement after the Ugandan law was signed that the Administration will consider the impact of the law in its review of Uganda’s AGOA eligibility. Senator Ron Wyden, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has also called on President Biden “to immediately suspend Uganda’s AGOA benefits, and work with our allies to remove similar benefits until Uganda repeals its cruel anti-LGBTQI+ law and improves its record on human rights, corruption and rule of law.” In April, Senator Wyden also wrote to Ambassador Tai and Secretary Antony Blinken with a similar request.
The ban on duty-free imports from Uganda would likely have the most impact in the coffee sector. Coffee bean sales represent the country’s second-largest source of foreign exchange income. It will also send a clear signal to investors and international markets: the message that Uganda is not open for business. Indeed, to emphasize that point, Secretary Blinken has directed the State Department to update U.S. travel and investment warnings for American citizens and U.S. businesses in the context of the new law.
Now is the time for the Biden Administration to stand firmly for human rights and the LGBTQI+ community in Uganda by terminating all of the country’s benefits under AGOA.