U.S. cuts off Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea from Africa duty-free trade program

FILE PHOTO: Tadele Abate, 37, weaves a fabric at the Sammy Ethiopia hand made garments, hand-woven textiles and basketry factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 14, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Saturday cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from access to a duty-free trade program, following through on President Joe Biden's threat to do so over alleged human rights violations and recent coups.

"The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA trade preference program due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute," the U.S. Trade Representative's office said in a statement.