The United States will try to lead by example and keep its markets open. Through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Africans will be able to export many more products to the United States duty-free. But African nations must do their share by continuing to liberalize, privatize, and nurture the growth of the private sector in their economies, seek foreign investment, and remove barriers to intra- and international trade. Privatization, for example, can lead to the introduction of new technologies, new management techniques, and new investment capital in formerly state-run enterprises. Reforms of this kind can also contribute to more investor-friendly environments and provide important linkages between African economies and other trading nations.
Many African countries continue to have tariff rates that are among the highest in the world.
The United States will continue to advocate vigorously for a reduction of tariff and nontariff barriers and for compliance with World Trade Organization obligations. This includes protection of intellectual property rights and adherence to other standards critical to expanding exports, attracting investment, and raising growth rates. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-corruption convention, which is aimed at the supply side of the bribery equation, came into effect in February of this year. Twelve OECD states have ratified the convention, and more are expected to do so in the coming months. States that have ratified and implemented the convention are criminalizing the provision of bribes.