ASTIP Act of 2024

Bill: 118-hr-8249
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20]
Introduced: 2024-05-06
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Latest action: action_date: 2024-12-17
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8249 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.

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 . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 8. Definitions In this Act: (1) A f CFTA 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.