U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a law extending a preferential trade programme for Africa through December 31, with the extension applying retroactively from September 30, 2025, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Greer said his office would work with Congress this year to update the programme to expand market access for U.S. businesses, farmers, and ranchers, while aligning it with Trump’s America First trade policy, Reuters reported.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act, first enacted in 2000, grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market for more than 1,800 products.
The programme expired in September, putting hundreds of thousands of African jobs at risk.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation last month to extend the law for three years, but the Senate later reduced the extension to one year, a change the House subsequently approved.
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The extension comes at a time of strained relations between the United States and South Africa, Africa’s largest economy. Trump last year boycotted a Group of 20 meeting hosted by South Africa during its rotating G20 presidency.
He later said South Africa would not be invited to G20 meetings hosted this year by the United States, which assumed the group’s presidency in December.
South African Trade Minister Parks Tau welcomed the extension last month, saying it would “provide certainty and predictability for African and American businesses that rely on the program.”
USTR said it would work with relevant agencies to implement any changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States resulting from the legislation reauthorizing AGOA.
To qualify for AGOA’s duty-free benefits, countries must establish, or continue making progress toward establishing, a market-based economy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process, USTR said.
In addition, countries must remove barriers to U.S. trade and investment, adopt policies to reduce poverty, fight corruption, and protect human rights, the office added.
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Image Credit: Business Insider Africa
