As the United States seeks to deepen its ties with African nations and counter the influence of rivals like Russia and China, it faces a tricky question: How will it respond when countries do things that contradict Washington’s stated commitment to democracy and Human rights stand?

That tension loomed over a major trade conference between the U.S. and African countries that began this week in Johannesburg after President Biden’s announcement suspend four nations from an important trade program aimed at promoting economic development in Africa.

One of the suspended countries, Uganda, passed a law this year calls for life imprisonment for everyone involved in gay sex sent a delegation to the conference to advocate for the reinstatement of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) into the program. Mr. Biden wrote to Congress that Uganda had been removed from office because it had “committed serious violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

Susan Muhwezi, a trade adviser to the Ugandan president, rejected the statement, calling Uganda “an island of peace.”

“If we’re going to be friends and trade with each other,” she said in an interview at the conference, “I think there are better ways to express your concerns than to say, ‘I’m the boss and I have to strike.’ She added that removing Uganda from the program would harm the livelihoods of traders in cotton, coffee, vanilla and other goods who were responsible for the $12.3 million in exports the East African country received last year year through the US trade program.

“Isn’t this a violation of human rights in another way?” she said, referring to the US decision to exclude Uganda from the program.

Once the suspensions take effect on January 1, 31 countries will participate in the trading program. Enacted in 2000, it is open to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, allowing them to export certain goods to the United States duty-free. Last year the USA took in goods worth about $30 billion through AGOA.

The tension between promoting democracy and human rights on the one hand and maintaining influence abroad is hardly new to the United States. It is very much alive in Africa today in the competition between the US, Russia and China, where Moscow and Beijing promise help and security without conditions. But for the United States, the campaign to promote democracy is, among other things, a key selling point to a domestic audience that has become increasingly isolationist in recent years.

Gabon and Niger were suspended by Mr. Biden after attempted coups that violated the trade program’s eligibility requirements. The president of the Central African Republic, who has also been suspended, pushed through a measure this year to abolish presidential term limits. Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, leads the country’s security.

To maintain eligibility for the program, states must do the following comply with certain conditionsincluding supporting democracy, protecting human rights, and not violating U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.

They can be suspended if they commit “serious violations of internationally recognized human rights” or support terrorism and efforts to eliminate human rights. Enforcing these requirements involves difficult calculations for the United States.

The Biden administration has emphasized the importance of including African nations on an equal basis. However, if Washington takes punitive measures, it risks giving the impression that it is lecturing or trying to impose its values ​​on countries that have had a painful and recent experience of colonial rule.

While these suspensions were the result of violations that the White House deemed egregious, Biden administration officials say they are trying to address these concerns. Judd Devermont, a top White House adviser on African affairs, said the administration has made it a priority to “add a little more complexity to our relationship in Africa” ​​and accept that it will disagree with countries on some issues will be.

“If we have differences, we should get involved and talk about them,” he said. “Incidentally, we also do this with other countries in other regions of the world.”

Even some American lawmakers have argued that the U.S. needs to be careful about stripping privileges from African countries that may violate the standards they have set. This, they argue, could lead to ordinary people being punished for the actions of their governments, and it could cause African nations on the continent to drift toward rival countries, posing an even greater threat to American interests would.

Barring “egregious violations of principles or undermining of core American interests,” keeping the countries in the trade program is important “for the entrepreneurs and small business owners in the country as well as for the relationship overall,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland .

At the same time, the Biden administration is under pressure from lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to further scrutinize the nations that benefit from AGOA.

They point to the conference’s host country, South Africa, which just six months ago was in a tense confrontation with Washington over allegations by the US ambassador that South Africa had supplied Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine.

Republican Senators James Risch of Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Tim Scott of South Carolina released separate statements this week criticizing the Biden administration’s decision to continue the conference in South Africa while problems in the The connection with South Africa’s support of Russia remains unresolved.

They also criticized South Africa’s response to the war in Gaza, noting that the South African foreign minister spoke by phone with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and visited Iran, where she met with President Ebrahim Raisi. Hamas, which controls Gaza and staged the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, is a proxy of Iran.

“The government’s decision to host the AGOA Forum in South Africa and maintain South Africa’s eligibility for AGOA benefits in 2024 jeopardizes the integrity of the program and our trade preferences,” Mr. Risch wrote.

The trade program is set to expire in 2025, then Congress must decide whether to reauthorize it. While Mr. Risch said he supported the renewal, he suggested that lawmakers might require significant changes to the program, which could lead to a difficult reauthorization process.

Several analysts said in recent interviews that the White House had probably concluded that it was not worth imploding relations over South Africa, no matter what sins South Africa had committed.

South Africa is the biggest beneficiary of the trade deal, with exports worth $3 billion last year. It is one of the continent’s most advanced economies and the United States views it as an important ally with influence over other African nations.

South Africa has brokered peace efforts in several conflicts across Africa, helping to create stability that the United States sees as vital to its own interests, including because it can prevent the spread of extremist groups.

Teddy Ruge, a business owner from Uganda, was on a plane heading to Johannesburg when Mr. Biden announced the suspensions. Mr. Ruge is the founder of Raintree Farms, which exports to the United States Moringa, a herbal remedy Powder used in many health products.

Sitting behind a cubicle decorated with the Ugandan flag at the conference, he said he was embarrassed that everyone was staring at them like they were “the bad child.”