The Minister of State for Trade, Harriet Ntabazi, has said that Uganda will abandon the United States markets if its participation is hinged on the conditions of Uganda accepting homosexuality.

Ntabazi made these remarks while at parliamentary offices as she was briefing the press on December 12, 2023, arguing that Uganda already has enough markets to sell its products.

“Should America continue imposing on Uganda that it accept a woman to marry a woman and a man to marry a man, we shall do away with their markets and do business with other markets,” Ntabazi said.

Ntabazi said that what Uganda looks for from the US market is political relations, adding that the real trade volumes for Uganda that have shaped it from attaining middle-income status have not been aided by trade with the US but other markets.

“We have enough markets for Uganda; we have the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the European Union, and markets in China and India,” Ntabazi said.

She added that the US should understand that trade is different from human rights and urged them not to mix up issues of trade and human rights.

Ntabazi further noted that the US does not want Uganda to add any value to its products, demanding that Uganda export raw materials without adding value, a complaint Uganda had already brought up with the US.

This comes after the US’s recent announcement that it will be ending its support for African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) in Uganda in January 2024 and issuing a visa ban against Members of Parliament, citing human rights violations, after the enactment of the homosexuality bill.