The House of Representatives on Monday voted to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) four months after the trade programs expired.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) added the three-year extension bills to the docket of legislation to be considered on the House floor this week, and lawmakers voted on the issue Monday afternoon.
Industry groups including the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, the National Retail Federation, the Outdoor Industry Association, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Fashion Industry Association-which have been calling for the programs’ extensions for well over a year-urged Congressional leadership to pass the retroactive reauthorization of AGOA and Haiti HELP, after both motions passed in the House Ways and Means Committee in December.
Should the Senate pass the bills, they will be retroactively extended from the date they lapsed through the end of 2028.
The trade associations wrote an open letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on behalf of their collective membership, calling AGOA and Haiti HOPE/HELP « key U.S. trade preference programs » and urging a swift resolution. The programs offer duty-free access for thousands of imports from Africa and Haiti.
« These bills would retroactively renew the programs for three years, providing much-needed certainty for U.S. companies and stability for workforces in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, » the letter said. « AGOA and Haiti HOPE/HELP enjoy strong bipartisan backing, support American cotton and textile exports, provide U.S. businesses with smart, practical strategies to diversify sourcing outside of China, and directly support 3.6 million American workers. »
As the programs’ expiration date-Sept. 30, 2025-loomed last year, the apparel and footwear industries worried aloud that anything less than a timely extension could cause upheaval across an already turbulent sourcing landscape.
At Sourcing Journal’s annual Summit last fall, which took place on the day the programs lapsed, AAFA president and CEO Steve Lamar said not renewing the programs could « create a worsened situation in Haiti, » and « send a terrible message about whether the U.S. wants to stay engaged with the African continent. »
But on Monday, both bills garnered overwhelming bipartisan support, with lawmakers voting 340-54 for the AGOA extension and 345-45 on Haiti’s trade preference programs.
« Yesterday’s vote reflects bipartisan recognition that protecting the African and Haitian apparel and footwear industries strengthens the U.S. apparel and footwear industry, and its 3.6 million American workers, by opening markets for U.S. cotton and textile exports and advancing diversified sourcing goals, » said Beth Hughes, AAFA’s vice president of trade and customs policy. « These programs promote stable, transparent supply chains while expanding economic opportunity. We urge swift action as the bill now moves to the Senate. »
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also publicly lent its support to the extension bills, with its senior vice president and international head, John Murphy, saying, « Swift action will strengthen mutually beneficial trade ties, fortify America’s geopolitical relationships, and benefit American job creators. »
« Absent congressional action, an extended lapse of these programs will undermine the administration’s broader export objectives, as the programs facilitate U.S. manufacturers’ access to critical inputs that are often used to produce more complex, high-value products, » he added in a letter sent to Members of Congress on Monday.
Moving forward without the programs would create unintended-and unwelcome-opportunities for foreign adversaries, which could usurp America’s influence in both regions, Murphy wrote.
Dozens of African nation and thousands of U.S. companies have benefited from AGOA over the nearly 25 years that the trade legislation has been in play, he added. The program’s expiry has already created uncertainty for those enterprises, however, and has given African partners reason to question the reliability of U.S. businesses. « AGOA’s reauthorization will help assuage those concerns and incentivize investment decisions to deconcentrate and diversify supply chains away from China, » the letter said.
Haiti’s HELP program, which specifically focuses on the sourcing of apparel from the Caribbean country, should also be prioritized-not just as a diplomatic tool, but as a means of bolstering American business, it added. The apparel goods sourced from Haiti through the program contain significant U.S. content, supporting the nation’s nearshoring ambitions. Apparel represents 90 percent of Haiti’s total exports, with more than 80 percent destined for the U.S. market.
Amid the country’s ongoing political turmoil and instability, « Access to the U.S. market under the trade preferences established by the HELP program continues to be a lifeline for the country, » Murphy wrote. « These programs have contributed to the development of Haiti’s apparel industry, which provides a significant source of employment and economic opportunity. »
No official date has been set for a Senate vote on the legislation. However, all government spending bills must pass by Jan. 30, and lawmakers are reportedly keen to attach the AGOA and Haiti programs to the upcoming appropriations bill to solidify its passage.