Trump lashes out at Algeria's trade policies

Here is a summary of the Algeria section of the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS. It is quite bleak!  

“Despite the signing of a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the United States in 2001, Algeria persists in a closed and protectionist trade policy. Still not a member of the WTO, it applies prohibitive customs duties reaching up to 60%, with surcharges up to 200% on more than 1,000 products.  

This excessive protectionism hinders market access and discourages foreign exporters, notably Americans. Non-tariff barriers are omnipresent: disguised quotas, complex authorizations, state monopolies on strategic imports (wheat, rice, legumes), and outright bans on common products like used medical equipment or certain machinery.  

The customs bureaucracy is slow, opaque, and arbitrary. Requirements like “Visa Fraude” or multiple certificates significantly slow down procedures, sometimes for months, without justification. Regarding sanitary and phytosanitary standards, Algeria imposes often unjustified restrictions, lacking transparency or mutual recognition, contradicting free trade principles.  

Foreign investment is also discouraged by the 51/49 rule, reimposed without notice, depriving foreign investors of effective control over their capital.  

As for intellectual property, enforcement remains weak, and protection mechanisms are largely insufficient. The digital sector also suffers from a heavy regulatory arsenal, with data localization requirements and payment caps hindering e-commerce.  

Finally, the economy remains dominated by inefficient and underperforming state-owned enterprises that benefit from unjustified preferential treatment. These state monopolies, supported at a loss by the government, distort competition and lock access to large market segments.  

In short, despite an agreement in place for over twenty years, Algeria continues to erect systemic barriers to economic openness, to the detriment of its bilateral commitments and the business climate.”