Sec. 5. U.S–AfCFTA strategic and investment partnership agreement
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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:
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
Increase the volume, value, and velocity of goods and services traded between African countries by improving customs operations, which should include— 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; providing support for increased automation or online processing of customs and cross-border trade-related tasks; and supporting efforts— 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 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.
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.