US Announces Plans to Exclude 2 African Countries from Duty-Free Trade Benefits

Ambassador Jamieson Greer of the United States Trade Representative stated that the decision was based on trade barriers and national security concerns.

The termination will take effect on January 1, 2027, following an annual interagency review of AGOA eligibility.

The United States government has announced plans to withdraw Rwanda and South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade preference program that allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export thousands of goods to the US market duty-free.

On November 2, 2026, US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer announced that President Trump had formally informed Congress and both governments of his intention to end their eligibility under the program, with effect from January 1, 2027.

The annual interagency review of sub-Saharan African nations’ eligibility for the AGOA trade preference program was overseen by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Ambassador Greer stated, “President Trump discovered that the governments of Rwanda and South Africa are participating in practices that are inconsistent with AGOA’s eligibility criteria based on the review.” 

The “concerning and pervasive practices include, but are not limited to, barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests in the region.”

Why South Africa and Rwanda were marked

The US government listed distinct issues for each nation.

In Rwanda’s case, the Trump administration cited threats to American national security and foreign policy interests, trade and investment barriers, weaknesses in the rule of law, limitations on political pluralism, violations of internationally recognized worker rights, and human rights issues.

Threats to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region, corruption, and obstacles to US investment and trade were South Africa’s main concerns.

What it means to remove AGOA

AGOA, which has been in effect since 2000, grants qualified African nations preferential, duty-free access to the US market for a variety of exports.

Losing this status usually results in higher export prices to the US, which reduces the competitiveness of goods from the impacted nations and may have an impact on employment and income in industries that depend significantly on American consumers.

According to Ambassador Greer, the Trump administration was “working to ensure our African partners take the necessary steps to meet the eligibility criteria.”