The United States will suspend South Africa and Rwanda from its flagship duty-free trade programme for sub-Saharan Africa from 1 January 2027, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday.
Greer said President Donald Trump had notified Congress and the governments of both countries of his intention to terminate their eligibility under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, known as AGOA. The programme, enacted in 2000, gives qualifying African countries duty-free access to the United States market for thousands of products, and has long been the centrepiece of Washington’s economic engagement with the continent.
The decision followed an annual interagency review of eligibility led by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Greer said the review found that the governments of Rwanda and South Africa were engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA’s eligibility criteria.
For South Africa, Washington cited barriers to American trade and investment, corruption, and practices it said posed a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region. For Rwanda, the concerns listed were broader, covering trade and investment barriers, the rule of law, political pluralism, internationally recognised worker rights and human rights, as well as national security and foreign policy interests.
South Africa is by far the larger of the two cases. It has been the programme’s largest beneficiary, exporting about $1.7 billion worth of goods to the United States under AGOA in 2025, including vehicle parts, citrus and wine. Those goods would lose their duty-free treatment from January unless the decision is reversed or the countries regain eligibility in a future review.
Rwanda’s exposure is smaller in value, but the move completes a longer slide. The country has already faced a partial AGOA suspension since 2018, under which it could not export apparel duty-free, after Washington objected to tariffs Rwanda imposed on second-hand clothing imports.
The announcement does not immediately close the door. Countries previously suspended from AGOA have regained eligibility after Washington judged that the conditions behind their removal had been addressed, and Greer said the administration was working to ensure its African partners took the necessary steps to meet the criteria. South Africa’s trade minister, Parks Tau, said the notice gave the country 60 days before the change takes effect, and that Pretoria would keep engaging Washington while also accelerating efforts to diversify its export markets.
For exporters, the practical effect is straightforward: from 1 January 2027, goods from South Africa and Rwanda that previously entered the United States duty-free under AGOA would instead face ordinary US tariffs. That raises costs for producers and American buyers alike, and puts pressure on both governments to use the notice period to negotiate.
Note: the featured image is a file photo of Durban harbour, South Africa, taken in August 2006, not a photograph of the trade announcement.
Sources: Office of the United States Trade Representative, statement by Ambassador Jamieson Greer on President Trump’s intent to terminate Rwanda and South Africa from AGOA, 2 November 2026, https://times.co.sz/47641/world/ambassador-greer-issues-statement-on-president-trumps-intent-to-terminate-rwanda-and-s-africa-from-agoa/ ; Reuters, “US to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free trade access”, 2 November 2026, https://froggyweb.com/2026/11/02/us-to-suspend-south-africa-rwanda-from-duty-free-trade-access/
