The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) today released U.S.-Trade and Investment with Sub- Saharan Africa, the fifth and final in a series of reports intended to assist the President in developing a comprehensive trade and development policy for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, conducted the investigation for the United States Trade Representative (USTR). As requested by USTR, the ITC's study is limited to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The current report provides an update for 2003 on U.S.-SSA trade and investment flows in major sectors; information on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); a discussion of major developments in trade and economic policies significant to U.S.-SSA bilateral trade and investment; an update on progress in regional integration in SSA; and a compilation of multilateral assistance, U.S. bilateral assistance, and trade-related initiatives related to SSA. The report contains economic profiles for each of the 48 countries of SSA and sector profiles for six major SSA sectors: agriculture, fisheries, and forest products; chemicals; petroleum and energy-related products; minerals and metals; textiles and apparel; and certain transportation equipment. Following are highlights of the report:

• In 2003, U.S.-SSA merchandise trade totaled $32.1 billion, an increase from $24.1 billion in 2002. U.S. exports to SSA increased by 13.1 percent in 2003 to $6.7 billion, and U.S. imports from SSA increased by 39.9 percent to $25.5 billion in 2003. The increase in U.S. exports to SSA was primarily because of increased exports of transportation equipment, agricultural products, and electronic products to Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, and South Africa; and the increase in U.S. imports from SSA was largely because of an increase in imports of energy- related products from Nigeria. In comparison, nonenergy-related imports increased by 20 percent to $7.8 billion in 2003.

• In 2002, the United States recorded a cross-border surplus in services trade with Africa of $2.2 billion. The primary U.S. cross-border service exports to Africa included tourism and passenger transport, business services, education, and freight transport and port services. U.S. service imports from Africa were mainly in the travel and tourism, passenger transport, business services, and freight transport sectors.

• U.S. imports from SSA countries eligible for AGOA benefits (including the GSP provisions) totaled almost $14 billion in 2003, an increase of 36.3 percent from $9 billion in 2002. The largest share of U.S. imports under AGOA came from Nigeria (66.3 percent), followed by South Africa (11.8 percent) and Gabon (8.3 percent). Other major suppliers included Lesotho, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Kenya. These imports were dominated by U.S. purchases of energy-related products in 2003, which represented 79.5 percent of total AGOA imports in 2003, an increase from their 75.9 percent share of the total in 2002. Share of total imports decreased from 8.9 percent in 2002 to 8.5 percent in 2003 for textiles and apparel sector, and from 6.1 percent in 2002 to 5.2 percent in 2003 for the transportation equipment sector.

• In anticipation of the AGOA III legislation and its subsequent passage in July 2004, AGOA- eligible SSA countries continued to receive investment supported, in part, by their access to trade preferences under the AGOA program. Although a substantial portion of investments continued to target the apparel sector, increased investment has also occurred in the textile, mining, and motor vehicle industries. Investment patterns also highlight the extension of AGOA-related investment into small- and medium-sized businesses and efficiency-enhancing technology investment.

• In 2003, SSA received $8.5 billion in new foreign direct investment (FDI), or 6.3 percent of global foreign investment flows to developing countries. Net inward portfolio equity flows to SSA totaled $500 million in 2003. As in prior years, South Africa accounted for virtually all foreign portfolio investment flows to SSA in 2002. U.S. net direct investment flows to Africa totaled $1.4 billion in 2003, representing less than 1 percent of total U.S. direct investment abroad. Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria attracted the largest amounts of U.S. FDI flows, with $823 million and $340 million, respectively. Of the nonpetroleum exporting countries, South Africa and Cameroon attracted the largest amounts of U.S. FDI, with $89 million and $73 million, respectively.

• U.S. government agencies continued to fund and implement a broad range of trade capacity-building initiatives in SSA. SSA received $132.7 million in FY 2003, representing 17.4 percent of total U.S. funding for trade capacity-building initiatives. The level was a 19.3 percent increase over FY 2002. Numerous individual countries received less direct trade capacity-building funding in FY 2003 as funding increasingly targeted regional organizations in SSA such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The percent share of the top five funding recipients declined from 54.1 percent in FY 1999 to 32.1 percent in FY 2003.

U.S.-Trade and Investment with Sub-Saharan Africa (Investigation No. 332-415, USITC Publication 3741, December 2004) will be available on the ITC's Internet site at www.usitc.gov. A CD of the report may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may also be faxed to 202-205-2104.

ITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Senate Committee on Finance, or the House Committee on Ways and Means. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the ITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.