First enacted in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) allows qualifying sub-Saharan African countries to export over 1,800 products to the US duty-free. Export countries include Nigeria and South Africa.
US President Donald Trump has signed into law a one-year extension of a trade preference program with African countries restoring duty-free access to the US market until the end of the year, the US trade representative said on Tuesday.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) applies retroactively from September 30, 2025, when the program expired through December 31, 2026.
Greer also said his office would work with Congress this year to modernize AGOA to align with Trump’s America First trade policy.
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“AGOA for the 21st century must demand more from our trading partners and yield more market access for US businesses, farmers, and ranchers,” Greer said.
What is AGOA?
First enacted in 2000, AGOA allows qualifying sub-Saharan African countries to export more than 1,800 products to the United States duty-free.
According to the US Trade Representative, to meet AGOA’s duty-free eligibility requirements countries must ensure progress toward:
- market-based economies
- the rule of law,
- removal of barriers to US trade and investment
- enacting policies to reduce poverty
- combatting corruption
- protecting human rights
In 2024, $8.23 billion (€6.96 billion) worth of goods were exported under AGOA, with South Africa accounting for about half, and Nigeria contributed roughly one-fifth, US International Trade Commission data showed.
When the program expired in September last year, it disrupted trade flows and threatened thousands of jobs across Africa.
The US House of Representatives last month approved a three-year AGOA extension, but the Senate reduced it to one year. The House agreed with this change.
AGOA extension comes amid strained US-South Africa ties
The extension comes amid strained US-South Africa relations.
Trump last year skipped a Group of 20 summit hosted by South Africa and later said the African nation would not be invited to G20 meetings hosted by the US this year.
The Trump administration has long accused the South African government of discriminating against its white minority, citing alleged land seizures and violence.
The South African government has denied that Afrikaners and other white South Africans are being persecuted.
South African Trade Minister Parks Tau, meanwhile, welcomed the extension of the trade program.
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Edited by: Rana Taha
