South Africa, Rwanda to be Terminated from AGOA

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, President Trump has notified the governments of South Africa and Rwanda of his intent to terminate those countries from the African Growth and Opportunity Act as of Jan. 1, 2027.

A USTR press release said this decision is a result of concerns about (1) barriers to U.S. trade and investment, corruption, and threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests in South Africa, and (2) trade and investment barriers, rule of law, political pluralism, internationally-recognized worker rights, human rights, and threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests in Rwanda.

AGOA is currently authorized through Dec. 31, 2028. It provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. for more than 1,800 products in addition to the more than 5,100 products eligible under the Generalized System of Preferences. Although GSP expired Dec. 31, 2020, tariff lines covered by GSP remained eligible for AGOA beneficiaries.

AGOA also provides duty-free treatment for apparel articles (1) wholly assembled in one or more beneficiary SSA countries (2) from fabric wholly formed in one or more such countries (3) from yarn originating in the U.S. or one or more current or former such countries. This treatment is also available for apparel articles assembled in one or more lesser-developed beneficiary SSA countries regardless of the country of origin of the fabric used to make such articles.

Press reports note that South Africa is currently the biggest beneficiary of AGOA, with about $1.7 billion in goods exports to the U.S. under that program in 2025. However, reports also note that only about ten percent of South Africa’s total exports to the U.S. benefited from AGOA in 2025, down from 28 percent in 2024.