The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently notified that imports of eligible products from Mali qualify for the textile and apparel benefits under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) beginning August 4 as Mali has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent the unlawful transhipment of textile and apparel articles.
Mali has also taken steps to prevent the use of counterfeit documents in connection with the shipment of such articles, and has implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress towards implementing and following, the custom procedures required by the AGOA, the July 21 notification said.
Mali is the 175th largest goods trading partner of the United States with $84 million in total two-way goods trade during 2018. Goods exports totalled $79 million; goods imports totalled $5 million; and the US goods trade surplus with Mali was $74 million in 2018, USTR data showed.
