South Africa and Rwanda lose access to U.S.’ AGOA trade pact

The registration desks at the African Growth and Opportunity Act forum in Johannesburg on Nov. 3, 2023 | BLOOMBERG

Bloomberg

Nov 3, 2026

South Africa and Rwanda have lost their duty-free access to the U.S. granted under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which Pretoria had lobbied hard to retain.

U.S. President Donald “Trump found that the governments of Rwanda and South Africa are engaging in practices that are inconsistent with AGOA’s eligibility criteria,” U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Monday. “These concerning and pervasive practices include, but are not limited to, barriers that undermine American trade and investment that pose a threat to U.S. national security.”

Tensions between Rwanda and the U.S. have deteriorated over Kigali’s involvement in the conflict in neighboring Congo. For South Africa, the government has been bracing for bad news on its continued eligibility for AGOA as ties between Washington and Pretoria have frayed since Trump returned to the White House in 2025.

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