USTR Michael Froman was at the National Press Club on Tuesday.  There, in a speech to the Brookings Institution, he set the stage for next week's "first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit," when the U.S. will "host 50 African heads of state and government."

We were not at that speech and do not know how many African officials were in the audience.  We imagine, though, that there were some, that the embassies of the relevant countries were represented.  In any event, it was very much a speech to Africa and the roughly 50 countries south of the Sahara, "the Great Desert."  Ambassador Froman began with a strong argument for trade and its importance to development.  Today's quote is from that section of the speech and was preceded by the observation that "while trade alone cannot solve every development challenge, it is a necessary part of any successful and sustainable development strategy."

But this wasn't just a series of assertions.  Ambassador Froman walked his audience through a garden of dramatic positives, but he was also candid about the disappointments.  He talked about Singapore, Chile, China, Mexico.   All of them are development superstars, and all of them relied heavily on trade and increased openness to turn their economies around.  With respect to those who have chosen a different path, there was this:

We read all of this as an effort to encourage more open trade policies on the part of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and fittingly it was coupled with several references to the strengths of those countries.  "Given that Africa is home to the world's fastest growing middle class and six of the top ten fastest-growing economies,"  Ambassador Froman said, "it's easy to see why global companies like GE, Caterpillar, and Procter & Gamble increasingly view engaging with Africa not as a choice, but as a necessity. "

The Preference Programs.  For us, the heart of this speech was what  Ambassador Froman said about the two key U.S. preference programs that apply to Africa: GSP and AGOA.  The first, the Generalized System of Preferences, expired in July 2013.  Ambassador Froman said the Obama Administration is working with Congress to reauthorize it and left it at that. 

It was AGOA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, that he discussed at length.  That program, established in 2000, expires next year, and is up for renewal.   The Congressional process is under way.  The Trade Subcommittee of House Ways and Means held a hearing on U.S. trade with Africa on Tuesday afternoon (July 29), and the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the same topic yesterday (July 30).  Ambassador Froman was the sole witness at the Finance Committee hearing.

In his Brookings speech Ambassador Froman explained that the Administration is engaged in a comprehensive review of AGOA, with a view to upgrading the program as well as renewing it.  Whether that will happen this year or next is unclear.
If the Ambassador's speech was a guide to the elements of the new AGOA,  there were  some carrots in it for Africa and, well - not sticks perhaps - but non-carrot.   He talked, for example, about a longer time period for the "third country fabric provisions," about expanding AGOA's product coverage, and about simplifying the rules of origin.  All of those things were, we assume, music to the ears of African exporters.

He also talked, however, about new realities, realities that call into question the non-reciprocal character of AGOA.  Indeed, as  Congress gets further into the process of writing the next version of AGOA, it seems likely that these thoughts from Ambassador Froman will be referenced many times:

This was a very rich speech.  We strongly urge you to click the link below and read it, as we have barely scratched the surface here.   Indeed we have made no mention of what Ambassador Froman said in this speech about trade facilitation - both the needs of African countries in this area and the policy crisis in the WTO over the Bali agreement on Trade Facilitation.  We will return to those issues in another entry.

Finally, a note on Ambassador Froman's reference to the EU's Economic Partnership Agreements with various African countries.  This may be new territory for some readers but not for those who know Stephen Lande, president of Manchester Trade.  For years now he has been trying to get Washington's trade policy community to focus on the significance of these arrangements, and he will be a speaker at next week's GBD-Cordell Hull Institute program on Africa and trade negotiations.