[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8249 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8249
To strengthen the African Continental Free Trade Area, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 6, 2024
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick (for herself and Mr. Jackson of Illinois)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To strengthen the African Continental Free Trade Area, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``U.S.-Africa Strategic Trade and
Investment Partnership Act of 2024'' or the ``ASTIP Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (``AfCFTA'')
will be the largest free trade area given Africa's current
population of 1,400,000,000 people, which is expected to grow
to 2,500,000,000 by 2050 and close to 40 percent of the global
population by 2100;
(2) According to the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa, this single-market trade agreement will enable the
African economy to reach the $29 trillion mark by 2050.
(3) According to World Bank estimates, by 2035, the total
gross domestic product of African countries is projected to
increase by $450,000,000,000 with the implementation of the
AfCFTA and lift 30,000,000 people in Africa out of extreme
poverty while boosting the wages of women and unskilled workers
in particular in Africa.
(4) According to the Brooking Institute Press Book
``Unlocking Africa's Business Potential'', by 2050, the
combined consumer and business spending in Africa will exceed
$16.12 trillion.
(5) According to the World Bank, total intracontinental
exports from African countries would increase by 81 percent
under the AfCFTA. By economic sector, the AfCFTA is expected to
be especially important for expanding manufacturing, by
increasing intracontinental manufacturing exports by 110
percent, which will diversify African economies and decrease
the reliance of such economies upon extracting natural
resources.
(6) The AfCFTA also is projected to increase African
manufacturing exports to the rest of the world by 46 percent.
As a result of the AfCFTA creating new commercial opportunities
and diversifying global supply chains, the rest of the world's
gross domestic product is expected to increase by
$76,000,000,000.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) support the African Union's Agenda 2063 efforts to
promote regional economic development, by stimulating greater
trade and investment among African countries and between Africa
and the United States;
(2) partner with the African Union Commission and African
Union entities such as the African Continental Free Trade Area
Secretariat, African Regional Economic Communities, and other
intergovernmental African organizations to bolster trade and
investment at the regional, intracontinental, and international
levels, and facilitate market access and bilateral trade
between the United States and African countries;
(3) increase opportunities for trade and investment between
African countries and United States businesses, including those
owned by members of the African diaspora, women, youth and
underserved groups, thereby thereby contributing to potential
United States economic growth;
(4) promote the goals of the African Continental Free Trade
Agreement signed on March 21, 2018, to lower trade barriers
between African countries, expand commercial opportunities for
underserved groups, women, and youth entrepreneurs, and attract
greater foreign investment;
(5) improve the efficacy, efficiency, and coordination of
United States development aid and technical assistance,
focusing on trade capacity building that is provided to African
countries, regional communities, and intergovernmental or
multinational entities including to the AfCFTA Secretariat;
(6) support efforts to aid the implementation of the trade
policy priorities of the AfCFTA, developed in coordination with
continental, regional, and country partners in Africa; and
(7) facilitate market access and bilateral trade between
the United States and African countries.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ROADMAP TO PROMOTE THE AFRICAN CONTINENTAL FREE
TRADE AREA.
(a) Report.--
(1) United states trade representative.--The President
shall, using existing interagency trade policy development and
coordination authority and mechanisms, direct the United States
Trade Representative, in coordination with the Secretary of
State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, and the heads of other Federal
agencies the President determines have trade or trade-related
development mandates, to publish a report:
(A) Describing efforts to promote the AfCFTA and to
achieve the following goals:
(i) Evaluate the industries in which the
United States industries have a comparative
advantage in Africa relative to other non-
African countries, and strategy to promote
trade and investment within those industries,
especially in industries expected to grow with
the implementation of the AfCFTA.
(ii) Evaluate the industries in which the
United States investments can create direct and
indirect jobs, and strategies to sustain and
enhance them in both African counties and the
United States, as the markets grow with the
AfCFTA.
(iii) Expand trade capacities and support
trade-related infrastructure development, and
prioritize major intra-African trade corridors.
(iv) Support the implementation and success
of the AfCFTA and its goals as identified in
consultation with African counterparts at the
continental, regional, and country level,
including by--
(I) advancing African regional and
intra-continental alignment of trade-
related legal and administrative
procedures;
(II) strengthening the technical
capacity of the AfCFTA Secretariat; and
(III) promoting the development and
expansion of African regional economic
communities as they pertain to
fostering trade, including through
direct consultation and partnership
with the AfCFTA Secretariat.
(v) Improve the efficacy of United States
trade capacity building to support AfCFTA
implementation, as appropriate, including by
identifying duplication of or incompatibility
between the assistance activities of other
major donors (such as nongovernmental
organizations, other governments, and
intergovernmental organizations) and the
policies and projects included in the strategy.
(vi) Enable more effective and inclusive
participation of stakeholders, including those
representing workers, environmental
sustainability, African diaspora, women, youth,
marginalized, or underrepresented groups, in
the further negotiation of AfCFTA subsidiary
agreements, protocols, or other legal texts,
and the implementation of the AfCFTA generally.
(B) Providing a description of the obligation and
expenditure of all amounts made available to carry out
the strategy during the preceding 2 fiscal years,
disaggregated by fiscal year, account, and activity.
(C) Identifying successes and challenges relating
to the implementation of the strategy.
(D) Evaluating whether there has been any progress
made regarding achieving the qualitative and
quantitative goals and metrics included in the initial
report pursuant to subsection (b)(5).
(E) Providing any updates and revisions made to the
criteria described in subsection (b)(5) and included in
the initial report.
(F) Updating recommendations as described in
subsection (b)(6).
(2) Timeframe.--Not later than 2 years after the submission
of the initial report required by subsection (b), and every 2
years thereafter for 8 years, the President shall submit the
report to the relevant congressional committees.
(3) Prior approval and biennial updates.--The report
required by this subsection may only be developed through prior
consultation with, and submitted with the approval of, the
Trade Policy Staff Committee established pursuant to section
242(a) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1872(a)).
Such report shall also be updated biennially with such prior
consultation and pursuant to such approval.
(4) Consultation.--In developing the report described in
this subsection, the United States Trade Representative shall,
as appropriate and practicable, consult with--
(A) stakeholders in the United States and in Africa
from the private sector, civil society, and African
diaspora;
(B) relevant African Union entities such as the
AfCFTA Secretariat;
(C) State, local, and Tribal governments; and
(D) United States development agencies and entities
not represented on the Trade Policy Staff Committee,
including the Prosper Africa Initiative Secretariat,
the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the United
States Development Finance Corporation.
(b) Initial Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the President shall, subject to the prior
approval required under subsection (a)(3), submit to the relevant
congressional committees an initial report that identifies a strategy
to achieve the goals identified in subsection (a) and an implementation
plan for such strategy that includes each of the following:
(1) The rationale, objectives, and anticipated manner of
implementation of the strategy.
(2) The anticipated role of each Federal department or
agency involved in implementing such strategy, and the manner
in which such departments and agencies should jointly
collaborate at the interagency level.
(3) A summary of current trade capacity-building programs,
projects, and activities of the United States in support of the
AfCFTA as of the date of the submission of the report, and the
relationships between such programs, projects, and activities
and the objectives of the strategy.
(4) Any gaps, inefficiencies, or unmet needs identified in
the course of preparing the summary described in paragraph (3).
(5) Qualitative and quantitative goals and metrics for the
implementation of the strategy, including criteria to be used
in monitoring and evaluating progress toward the objectives of
the strategy.
(6) Recommendations relating to programmatic or
appropriations measures that could potentially enhance the
implementation of the strategy, including legislative or
executive policy changes for such enhanced implementation.
(c) Final Report.--Not later than 10 years after the date of the
submission of the initial report required by subsection (b), the
President shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a
report that assesses progress over the preceding decade of the
strategy. Such report shall also include each of the following:
(1) An assessment of the progress made in the
implementation of the roadmap over the preceding decade with
respect to each of the goals described in subsection (a)(1),
including with respect to the qualitative and quantitative
goals and metrics included in the initial report pursuant to
subsection (b)(5) and using the criteria described in such
subsection (b)(5).
(2) An assessment of the successes, challenges, and
effectiveness of the strategy and its implementation.
(3) Recommended legislative or executive policy changes
relevant to addressing any gaps, policy or program
shortcomings, or other outstanding challenges relating to the
goals of the strategy, along with descriptions of prospective
follow-up activities necessary to address such challenges.
(4) Recommendations relating to fostering further synergies
between implementation of activities, as relevant and
appropriate, relating to the African Growth and Opportunity Act
(19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), the AfCFTA, and any other Africa-
related United States trade policy initiatives, including types
of activities and expected outcomes based on the implementation
of the roadmap.
(5) A detailed description of the expenditure of all
amounts authorized to implement the roadmap throughout the 10-
year period, including amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under section 5(b), disaggregated by fiscal year,
account, and activity.
(e) Publication.--Each report required by this section shall be
submitted in unclassified form and may include a classified annex. The
unclassified portion of each such report shall be posted on publicly
available websites of the Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
SEC. 5. U.S-AFCFTA STRATEGIC AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT.
The United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the
AfCFTA Secretariat, is authorized to identify initial issues with
regard to which the United States, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and African
Governments implementing the AfCFTA should seek to develop an ambitious
roadmap for enhanced cooperation, with the goal of negotiating high-
standard commitments in order to achieve economically meaningful
outcomes, including measures with respect to the following areas,
matters, and stated objectives:
(1) Manufacture and value addition.-- Increase United
States trade and investment to expand African regional value
chains, especially as related to increasing manufacturing and
production on the continent in industries expected to grow with
the implementation of the AfCFTA, and with respect to value-
added activities related to the processing or use of basic
commodities produced by African countries.
(2) Agriculture.--Facilitate agricultural trade, enhance
transparency and on the application of science- and risk-based
sanitary and phytosanitary trade requirements and regulations,
and foster sustainable agricultural practices, as well as
creating an enabling environment for innovative agricultural
technologies that would help achieve food security goals,
increase farm productivity, improve farmer livelihoods, while
addressing climate change concerns as related to United States-
Africa trade and investment activity.
(3) Anti-corruption.--Enhance a shared commitment and
applied programmatic activities to prevent and combat bribery
and other forms of corruption, including sharing information on
best practices to prevent and combat bribery and corruption,
and efforts to explore the negotiation of specific related
commitments, as related to United States-Africa trade and
investment activity.
(4) Digital trade.--Foster African and joint United States-
Africa trade- and investment-related consumer, business, and
worker trust in the digital economy, including by ensuring
access to information, promoting the development and use of
resilient and secure digital infrastructure, promoting
competition and the participation of micro, small, and medium
enterprises (referred to as ``MSMEs''), and addressing
discriminatory practices, including measures to support digital
inclusion, to include accessibility online consumer protection,
and global discussions on emerging issues in digital trade.
(5) Environment and climate change action.--Measures to
strengthen environmental protection and, conservation, climate
change adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable use and
management of natural resources as such issues may relate to or
help to foster or be advanced by United States-African trade
and investment activity.
(6) Good regulatory practices.--Explore of United States-
African negotiations over high-level commitments on topics such
as ensuring adequate time for public consultations on proposed
regulations, posting proposed regulations for review by
interested stakeholders, and basing regulatory decisions on
best available information, science, and evidence, including
undertaking risk analysis and regulatory impact assessment as
appropriate.
(7) Micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.--Measures
and approaches to integrate MSMEs, including women-owned
enterprises, into international trade, alongside periodic
technical best practices exchanges and roundtables on MSMEs,
given the key role of successful MSME activity in achieving
sustained economic growth.
(8) Promoting workers' rights and protections.--Joint
United States-African applied collaboration to advance and
protect internationally recognized labor rights in Africa
through enforcement of, and compliance with, labor laws, the
promotion of social dialogue, and cooperation in other areas of
mutual interest on labor and employment priorities, including
forced labor in global supply chains.
(9) Supporting participation of women, youth, and others in
trade.--Promote economic opportunities for women, youth,
persons with disabilities, other vulnerable or
socioeconomically marginalized populations, and the African
diaspora including through the development and adoption of
trade policies to promote and facilitate their participation in
international trade, and to promote good paying, high-quality
jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
(10) Standards collaboration.--Improve technical and legal
standards, conformity assessment procedures, and technical
regulations that have a significant impact on trade, including
opportunities to reduce impediments to trade due to differences
among national legal and technical systems, and measures to
facilitate mutual understanding among governments of their
peers' respective processes for the preparation, adoption, and
application of technical regulations, standards and conformity
assessment procedures based on mutually agreed best practices.
(11) Trade facilitation and customs procedures
modernization.--Increase the volume, value, and velocity of
goods and services traded between African countries by
improving customs operations, which should include--
(A) measures that take into consideration the
profound disruption that international infectious
disease outbreaks and pandemics can cause to supply
chains, as demonstrated by the 2019 coronavirus
pandemic, notably in 2020 and 2021, and the
demonstrated benefits of streamlining border procedures
and accelerating World Trade Organization Trade
Facilitation Agreement implementation for trade in
goods in order to better address such challenges,
notably in Africa;
(B) providing support for increased automation or
online processing of customs and cross-border trade-
related tasks; and
(C) supporting efforts--
(i) to ensure adequate access to reliable
electrical power supplies and internet to
foster digitalization of trade or trade-related
regulatory compliance where necessary, such as
at border posts that administer trade flows;
and
(ii) to provide paper-based, or other
applicable technical alternatives at border
crossings where electricity or internet access
is unreliable or unavailable, including in
coordination with the United States Power
Africa or Prosper Africa initiatives where
applicable.
(12) Intellectual property.--Strengthen African Governments
intellectual property legal frameworks by enhancing cooperation
to boost innovation, research, and development, propel
technology advancement, promote creativity, attract
investments, and harmonize national laws and regulations toward
such ends, including through the use of international
intellectual property agreements or treaties.
SEC. 6. AFCFTA TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM.
(a) Trade Capacity Building Implementation.--The Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development shall establish
an AfCFTA Trade Capacity Building Program to support the implementation
of the strategy required by section 4 through existing authorities
granted by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.),
in collaboration with continental, regional, and country partners
including the civil society and private sector in Africa. In carrying
out such Program, the Administrator--
(1) may designate the Prosper Africa Initiative to
administer the AfCFTA Trade Capacity Building Program;
(2) shall consult with the United States Trade
Representative in making programmatic decisions; and
(3) shall receive approval from the Trade Policy Staff
Committee established pursuant to section 242(a) of the Trade
Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1872(a)) for all planned
activities for which funds are to be made available (including
any transfers to other Federal departments, agencies, or
entities).
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034 for
the United States Agency for International Development to carry out the
AfCFTA Trade Capacity Building Program described in subsection (a).
Amounts so authorized--
(1) shall be in addition to amounts otherwise authorized
for existing trade, investment, or economic growth-related
projects, programs, and activities that support the goals of
such Program;
(2) may be made available for consulting or technical
services, equipment, new personnel, or other project-related
administrative expenses associated with the development,
implementation, and reporting requirements of the President's
strategy required by section 4(a); and
(3) are authorized to be transferred as necessary to carry
out the objectives of this Act from the United States Agency
for International Development to other Federal departments or
agencies with a role in implementing the strategy required by
section 4(a), to the extent provided in advance by
appropriations Acts.
SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to--
(1) limit any authority or responsibility of the United
States Trade Representative relating to the establishment or
implementation of the trade policies of the United States
(including under section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2171)); or
(2) any such authority or responsibility to the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) AfCFTA.--The term ``AfCFTA'' means the African
Continental Free Trade Area authorized to be created under the
Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area,
adopted by its African Union signatories in Kigali, Rwanda, on
March 21, 2018.
(2) African diaspora.--The term ``African diaspora'' means
``consisting of people of African origin living outside the
continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality
and who are willing to contribute to the development of the
continent and the building of the African Union'' as defined by
the African Union.
(3) African regional economic communities.--The term
``Africa Regional Economic Communities'' means various economic
and political organizations in Africa established to promote
regional integration, cooperation, and development among
states. These communities include entities such as the African
Union (AU, Economic community of West Africa States (ECOWAS),
East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development
Community (SADC), and others.
(4) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant
congressional committees'' means the following:
(A) The Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Ways and Means, and the Committee on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives.
(B) The Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Finance, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate.
<all>