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By Owei Lakemfa
Rwanda is a small landlocked African country with 24,670 square kilometers, a population of 11.9 million and a GDP of $ 8.9 billion. It is with this country, the United States (US) the world's largest economy with a GDP of $ 20.412 billion, a territory of 9,147,420 and a population of 326,920,253, chose a trade war.
is in the name of Africa following the American insistence that Africans wear clothes already used by Americans.
The milestones that led to the war began in March 2016 when the Heads of State of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan The African Community of East (CAE) has decided to ban the import of used clothing by 2019 as part of the 2050 Vision of EAC. They sought to move the manufacturing sector from 8.7% to 25% by 2032.
increase import duties on used clothing to discourage their use and promote local production. As part of this decision, Uganda, for example, increased the environmental levy on used clothing from 15% to 20%, while Rwanda increased the import duty on used American clothing by 0%. 25 to 2.50 dollars a kilo. Tanzania increased its own tariffs from 0.2 to 0.4 dollars per kilogram.
The United States was livid; How can Africans decide to avoid the clothes discarded by Americans? If Africans, considered the poor of the earth would not buy used American clothes, who would? How do American merchants of opportunity dress under the auspices of the SMART (Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association)?
In 2017, he sent a warning to African countries that they accept used American clothing or be punished. But African countries have refused to be intimidated. In response to US threats, President Kagame said in 2017: "This is the choice we must make. In my case, making the choice is simple, we could suffer the consequences. Even with difficult choices, there is always a way, "said Matia Kasaija, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development of Uganda:" We will not give up our plans to ban used clothes in this country because Few business people in the United States or Uganda are interested in the business … Why should our people continue to wear clothes dead people when we grow cotton and have our own factories? Is it right? This is not it. We can exchange a lot of other things, but not in used clothes. "
Journalist Isaac Khisa cited the research of Esther Katende-Magezis, lawyer and political badyst, who revealed that" the cotton produced in the EAC is spun and woven into Asia, turned into clothing and shipped to the United States and Europe to be worn for 2-3 years and returned to Africa (EAC) as used clothing, to dress up to 70% of the African population.
When East African Leaders Meet Harry Sullivan, Director of Economic and Regional Affairs of the Africa Office of the US State Department, issued a directive: "Leaders of Rwanda, Tanzania, and the United States Uganda will meet on this issue., so I would like to know what they might decide.They may not have reached a consensus yet, I'm not sure, but we are asking these three countries to do two things.One is to reduce their tariffs to their levels before 2016, and the second thing we ask is to set them apart for sanitary reasons or sanitary, and not to eliminate exports of used clothing. "
President Uhuru Kenyatta Kenya buckled under, accepted dictation from the United States. But Rwandan President Paul Kagame refused. To do this, the United States has suspended Rwanda from AGOA, which allows countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export to the United States without facing tariffs.
Rather than being intimidated and afraid of other punitive actions in America, the Rwandan government issued a statement saying: "The AGOA is a unilateral gesture commendable to African countries, including Rwanda, for promoting trade and development through exports.The withdrawal of benefits from AGOA is at the discretion of the United States. "
L & # 39; import of used clothing, the unlimited influx of cheap clothing and textile smuggling in Africa have virtually killed the textile industry, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars. jobs. In Nigeria for example, the textile sector, which was the largest employer in the private sector, is virtually dead with more than half a million jobs lost. Yet, it's a country of 180 million people needing clothes with a pair of legs that need shoes. The shoe industry, subject to treatment similar to that of the textile, suffered a worse condition;
The imposition of used clothing in Africa reminds me of the imposition of opium by Britain to China in the nineteenth century . The Chinese rejected the opium trade, but Britain insisted that under free trade, no country can prevent the importation of a product whatever, including opium. He invaded China twice, seized Hong Kong and turned millions of Chinese into drug addicts.
In addition to the problems of trade, dependence and local manufacturing, used clothing poses health risks such as skin diseases, ringworm and lice. As the Ghanaians who call Obroni Wawu clothes (white men's clothes dead) say, these clothes could have been worn by anyone before being thrown away. Used clothing can also be used for biological warfare. When the white settlers in America decided to exterminate the native Indians five hundred years ago, they simply infected the blankets with smallpox and handed them over to the Indians. In this way, about 90% of the Indians were exterminated
. The problem of dumping used clothing and used shoes on Africa is not only an economic or commercial affair, it is also a socio-political problem. The imposition of used clothing on African countries especially by America and Europe is an extension of neo-colonial domination, the perpetuation of a dependency program and a continuous game of a racist stereotype that sees Africans as human beings inferior to new clothes like the others. That is why a country like America claiming to be the universal champion of human rights, can not accept the right of Africans to bring what they want, in particular new clothes. Thus, when a country like Rwanda insists on the dignity of its people by rejecting used clothing, this is considered an affront; an act of insolence, disobedience and revolt, which must be punished to dissuade other African countries. That is why Rwanda should not be left alone as a David faced with the American Goliath; other African countries must come together and build a united front.
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