US Congress tackles Chinese edge in mining and arms sales.
China is back on Washington’s agenda this week as the US government enters its fourth week of shutdown with no end in sight.
The House of Representatives may be out of session as long as federal agencies remain unfunded, but the Senate is staying busy with a host of hearings and legislative mark-ups.
Africa trade watchers will be paying close attention to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, 21 October, for insights into the future of the now-expired African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) duty-free scheme and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is slated to appear before the subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies at 10am to review his office’s activities and the funding priorities for Fiscal Year 2026, which runs from 1 October through next 30 September.
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Congressional activity heats up on Wednesday, 22 October when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under its chairman, James Risch, Republican of Idaho, marks up no fewer than 19 bills dealing with US rivals China and Russia. Several of these touch directly on Africa.
Sponsored by the top Democrat on the committee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Utah Republican John Curtis, the Critical Minerals Partnership Act of 2025 seeks to strengthen US national and economic security by bolstering partnerships with allies to secure the global supply of critical minerals.
The bill would formally authorise US participation in the Minerals Security Partnership, a coalition of western and allied countries launched in Toronto in 2022 to break China’s stranglehold on the global critical minerals supply chain.
