US President Donald Trump will remove South Africa and Rwanda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade programme from 1 January 2027, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said on Monday, 2 November 2026, as reported by the Associated Press.
Trump notified Congress and the governments of both countries of the decision, following an annual review of sub-Saharan African countries’ eligibility led by the USTR.
USTR Jamieson Greer said Trump found both governments were engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA’s eligibility criteria, citing barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests. The statement gave no specific examples.
For South Africa, the US concerns cited include barriers to US trade and investment, corruption, and threats to US national security and foreign policy interests. For Rwanda, the concerns cited include trade and investment barriers, the rule of law, political pluralism, worker rights and human rights.
AGOA was introduced in 2000 and gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for selected goods. South Africa is its biggest beneficiary and had lobbied hard to stay in the programme. South African Trade Minister Parks Tau said last week that South Africa had done all it could to remain in the pact.
Removal does not cut off US market access: affected exports will instead face the standard US tariff regime rather than entering duty-free.
Source: Associated Press
