Swaziland is about to enter an interesting, and probably challenging, period. The United States has revoked its eligibility for African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits. What this means is that as of Jan. 1, Swaziland won't have duty-free access to the American market for its manufactured goods.
The U.S. government says Swaziland hasn't done enough to protect workers' rights, specifically freedom to assemble and organize.
There's been a lot of discussion in the Swazi papers about it. Some factory operators expect to lay off workers or to close entirely. It's been difficult to get a sense of the real financial impact. Jack and I haven't seen specific reporting on how much costs will increase or how expensive it would be for manufacturers to actually pay the duties involved in shipping goods to America. We're also not sure what percentage of goods manufactured here end up in American markets.
Regardless, people seem nervous about what this change will mean in Swaziland, where unemployment is already above 40 percent.
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