US President Donald Trump has signed a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), restoring duty-free access for qualifying African countries to the US market until Dec. 31, 2026, the US Trade Representative said. The extension is retroactive to Sept. 30, 2025, when the program had expired.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said his office will work with Congress this year to modernize AGOA to align with Trump’s America First trade policy, adding that “AGOA for the 21st century must demand more from our trading partners and yield more market access for US businesses, farmers, and ranchers.”
AGOA, first enacted in 2000, allows qualifying sub-Saharan African countries to export more than 1,800 products to the United States duty-free. To qualify, countries must show progress toward market-based economies and the rule of law; remove barriers to US trade and investment; enact policies to reduce poverty; combat corruption; and protect 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 roughly one-fifth, according to US International Trade Commission data. The program’s lapse in September had disrupted trade flows and threatened thousands of jobs across Africa.
The US House last month approved a three-year AGOA extension, but the Senate reduced it to one year; the House agreed to the change.
The extension comes amid strained US–South Africa ties. Trump last year skipped a G20 summit hosted by South Africa and later said South Africa would not be invited to G20 meetings hosted by the US. The Trump administration has accused the South African government of discriminating against its white minority, citing alleged land seizures and violence; South Africa denies that Afrikaners and other white South Africans are being persecuted. South African Trade Minister Parks Tau welcomed the AGOA extension.
Edited by: Rana Taha