It began on the first day of January. Alongside Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea were excluded from the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) – a law opening the gates of economic export opportunities to sub-Saharan African countries, allowing them to export products to the United States without the burden of customs duties – due to what the United States Trade Representative (USTR) referred to as the “absence of pluralism and rule of law” existing in these respective states.
