Mozambique Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in mozambique, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Agreements
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U.S.-Mozambique Memorandum of Understanding

The U.S. and Mozambique do not have an official trade agreement. However, in 2019, Mozambique and the United States Department of Commerce entered a bilateral memorandum of understanding to help facilitate trade and investment in the areas of energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and tourism among other industries – the first ever negotiated between Mozambique and the United States. 

Southern African Development Community

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is currently implementing the organization’s trade protocol. SADC member states have agreements to eliminate trade tariffs on certain goods. If fully implemented among all 15 member states, the protocol will give Mozambican products reciprocal duty-free access to a market of over 253 million people with a GDP of $563 billion.

African Growth and Opportunity Act

Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a wide range of Mozambican products receives duty-free entry to the United States. A key provision of AGOA is the duty-free entry of apparel manufactured in Mozambique, including apparel manufactured with third-country fabric. The preferential arrangements contain no reciprocal treatment for U.S. products entering Mozambique.

European Union

Under the terms of the Cotonou Agreement, certain Mozambican products currently enjoy reduced tariffs or duty-free entry into European Union (EU) member nations under an Everything but Arms (EBA) arrangement. Mozambique is currently negotiating an economic partnership agreement with the EU as a member of the SADC block of countries.

Other Bilateral Trade Agreements

Mozambique entered into a preferential trade agreement with Malawi in December 2005. This agreement was an update of a similar agreement signed by the Portuguese colonial authorities with Malawi prior to Mozambican independence. It allows for free trade of goods originating in the two countries, excluding beer, certain soft drinks, tobacco, sugar, vegetable oil, chickens and eggs, office equipment, petroleum products, weapons, ammunition, and explosives. The Mozambique-Malawi agreement has simpler rules of origin than those outlined in the SADC Trade Protocol. Mozambique is still finalizing a preferential trade agreement with Zambia.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

On January 9, 2023, Mozambique became the 47th country to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to eliminate trade barriers and boost intra-Africa trade. AfCFTA, is designed to include the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight (8) Regional Economic Communities (RECs); of these 55 countries, 54 are signatories. The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion. Following a series of agreements beginning in 2012, the AfCFTA Agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019, after 24 Member States deposited their Instruments of Ratification with the African Union. Since the AfCFTA Secretariate launched the Guided Trade Initiative on July 25, 2022, eight countries have begun trading under the terms of the agreement.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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