To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes

Proclamation 10692 of December 29, 2023 To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes A Proclamation 1. In Proclamation 9834 of December 21, 2018, the President determined that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (Mauritania) was not making continual progress in meeting the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “Trade Act”), as added by section 111(a) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (the “AGOA”) (title I of Public Law 106-200 , 114 Stat. 251, 257-58), 19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1) . Thus, pursuant to section 506A(a)(3) of the Trade Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3) ), the President terminated the designation of Mauritania as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act. 2. Section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act authorizes the President to designate a country listed in section 107 of the AGOA ( 19 U.S.C. 3706 ) as a “beneficiary sub-Saharan African country” if the President determines that the country meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of the AGOA ( 19 U.S.C. 3703 ), as well as the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of the Trade Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2462 ). 3. Pursuant to section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act, based on actions the Government of Mauritania has taken, I have determined that Mauritania meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section 104 of the AGOA and the eligibility criteria set forth in section 502 of the Trade Act, and I have decided to designate Mauritania as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country. 4. Section 112(c) of the AGOA, as amended in section 6002(a)(3) of the Africa Investment Incentive Act of 2006 (division D, title VI, Public Law 109-432 , 120 Stat. 2922, 3190-93), 19 U.S.C. 3721(c) , provides special rules for certain apparel articles imported from “lesser developed beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.” 5. I ha…