The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was signed into law in May 2000 to encourage increased trade and investment between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It provides eligible countries with duty free access to the US market for over 1800 products in addition to those available under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The benefits extend through 2025. This study explores the link between US trade preferences under AGOA and beneficiary country exports. Using a large US import database, the study examines the extent to which AGOA influences export performance. It also examines the moderating roles of rule of law and foreign direct investment. The results largely indicate that AGOA has a positive and significant effect on beneficiary country exports. It also shows that rule of law moderates the relationship between AGOA and export performance. We believe that AGOA will target foreign direct investment (FDI) to SSA from other advanced regions such as the EU to take advantage of the US market. However, the role of FDI appears to be weak in moderating the relationship between trade preferences (tariff concessions) and exports from beneficiary countries to the US market.

Despite increasing economic integrations with China, worries exist in China's neighboring countries about China's implicit political intention. Do people view trading with China differently? In this article, we incorporate the political context of trade agreements by showing that trade with partners who come with political costs is less likely to be supported. Using a nationally representative survey experiment from Taiwan, we find that trading with China garners less support than trading with Japan or Malaysia, and nationalism suppresses self-interest when the proposed trading partner is China. We show that national attachment, which is neither a proxy for political identification nor a proxy for national chauvinism, becomes a stronger predictor of trade preferences toward China. While the political tension between China and Taiwan is unique, many countries see at least one other country posing a negative externality. Our finding suggests strongly identified nationalists would oppose engaging with a hostile outsider regardless of their self-interest.