Economic and Political Section

Our section includes Economic, Commerical and labor functions.  We also administer a Self-Help Program that provides assistance for community-based projects.

U.S. Economic Policy

To understand current U.S. economic initiatives, you may check the Department of State's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ and the U.S. Trade Representative website at http://www.ustr.gov.  USTR also devotes considerable attention to U.S. growing trade relationship with Africa at http://www.ustr.gov/World_Regions/Africa/Section_Index.html

Exports to the U.S.

More and more African entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the U.S.' U.S.' US$9 trillion economy.  Over the past two years, in fact, African exports to the U.S. have grown by 50 percent.

 The U.S./Zimbabwe trade relationship is overwhelming in Zimbabwe's favor.  In 2001, Zimbabwe sent US$91 million of products to the U.S. while U.S. export to Zimbabwe totaled only US$31 million.  We encourage Zimbabwean exporters to take advantage of these opportunities.

Exporters enjoy significant tariff reductions under the General System of Preference (GSP).  Approximately half of Zimbabwe's exports to the U.S. were through the GSP. For a sector-by-sector breakdown of the Zimbabwean exports to the U.S., consult http://www.dataweb.usitc.gov/

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) offers qualified Sub-Saharan countries even more liberal access to the U.S. Market.  It has also become the main vehicle for dialogue between the U.S. and Sub-Sahara Africa.  While Zimbabwe is not presently qualified for AGOA, Zimbabwe citizens may benefit from AGOA's quota and duty free provisions when exporting from one of the 36 qualified AGOA countries.   The 2002 AGOA report to Congress is at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/11518.pdf

American Business Association of Zimbabwe

The Embassy participates in the American Business Association of Zimbabwe (ABAZ).  If you represent a U.S. business and would like to attend a ABAZ function, please get in touch with us.