President Joe Biden of the United States has informed Congress of his decision to revoke Ethiopia's AGOA benefits.

On August 25, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai held a virtual meeting with Mamo Mihretu, Ethiopia's Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Trade Negotiator, in which she "raised the ongoing violations of internationally recognized human rights amid the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia, which could affect Ethiopia's future AGOA eligibility if not addressed."

Ethiopia has been pushing to avoid revocation since then, amid rising fears that the Biden administration was planning to remove Ethiopia from AGOA eligibility. "Today, the AGOA's two most successful exporting industries, garments and leather, directly employ over 200,000 people, 80 percent of whom are young women." Mamo noted in Foreign Policy Magazine that "in Hawassa Industrial Park alone, 95 percent of the workforce are women, giving in many cases the first-ever jobs for young families."

In any case, the Biden administration has decided to terminate Ethiopia's AGOA eligibility today. Guinea and Mali are the other Sub-Saharan African countries that have been granted AGOA access.