Trump Removes Special Trade Status for Cameroon

President Donald Trump has stripped Cameroon of its special trade status over human rights violations. (US Army)

President Donald Trump has declared his intention to end Cameroon’s status as a beneficiary of the Clinton-era African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on October 31 after continued human rights abuses by the government.

Cameroon has suffered from widespread instability since 2017 when Anglophone separatists in the country’s western provinces declared independence and began waging war against the government. President Paul Biya’s initial response was not satisfactory to Anglophone protesters and separatists, resulting in tensions that erupted into a violent conflict marked by human rights abuses on the part of both the Anglophone fighters and the Francophone national government.

While the government has attempted outreach efforts such as the so-called “National Dialogue,” a set of negotiations aimed at peace, they proved too little too late to remedy Cameroon’s maladies. There is no plan to reinitiate similar talks in the near future. Lacking a timely diplomatic resolution to the conflict, the two million in need of humanitarian assistance will have to wait.

Considering recent diplomatic failures and the pervasiveness of human rights abuses, Cameroon has failed to maintain eligibility for the AGOA program, which requires that participant countries be or be making progress toward becoming capitalist and politically free countries that protect human rights. The Trump administration has determined that Cameroon has failed particularly with respect to the protection of human rights. Previously, the American military has reduced aid to Cameroon for the same reason.

Despite these sanctions, the government of Cameroon is seemingly unconcerned about the situation. Cameroon's minister delegate at the Ministry of External Relations, Felix Mbayu, has rejected the connection between the country’s special trade status and human rights abuses, saying instead that "the simple truth is that the U.S. is unhappy with a certain stance we take with China.” Cameroon has maintained close ties with China in recent years, with the Asian giant writing off hefty debts and financing ambitious infrastructure projects in Cameroon.