US to cut Ethiopia from trade program over human rights

By CARA ANNA and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that he’s moving to cut out Ethiopia from a U.S. trade program. That sets the path for sanctions against the African nation over its failure to end a nearly yearlong war in the Tigray region. Biden in a letter to Congress said he had determined that Ethiopia has note met eligibility requirements to remain a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The program provides sub-Saharan African nations duty-free access to the United States on the condition they meet certain requirements, including eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment and making progress towards political pluralism. The sanction is set to effect on Jan. 1.