The US is in the process of renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for another three years, but a bill passed on Wednesday makes no mention of South Africa’s future in the trade programme.
The Agoa Extension Act was approved by the House ways and means committee in a decisive 37–3 vote, signalling strong bipartisan support for maintaining preferential trade ties with Sub-Saharan Africa.
The current draft of the act does not include any specific language relating to South Africa, though the committee is expected to review possible amendments before deciding whether to send the bill to the full House of Representatives for a vote.
In its statement, the committee described Agoa as a “cornerstone of economic relations between the US and sub-Saharan African nations”.
According to a statement by the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa, Agoa “has supported 1.3-million African jobs, generated over half a trillion dollars in duty-free African exports to the US, and sustains nearly half a million American jobs”.
The committee said an extended lapse in Agoa “would create a void that malign actors like China and Russia will seek to fill”.
“Africa is home to approximately 30% of the world’s critical mineral resources, and China has invested $8 to $10bn in Africa to try to monopolise these essential supply chains,” the committee’s statement reads.
According to the committee’s fact sheet, a three-year renewal “allows ample time for companies to make sourcing decisions, fostering supply chains within Africa, and allowing time for Congress to work with the Trump administration on reforms as part of a long-term Agoa renewal”.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that South Africa was a “unique problem” for the US.
Responding to questions by Republican senator John Kennedy, Greer said the country had both tariff and non-tariff barriers that complicated trade.
“If they ever want to have a better tariff situation with us, they need to take care of these tariffs and non-tariff barriers,” he said.
Kennedy was more direct: “South Africa is clearly not America’s friend.” Greer replied he was “happy to consider” removing the country from Agoa, noting that the US had already imposed reciprocal tariffs on South Africa “much higher than the rest of the continent”.
Wednesday’s announcement comes just months after Agoa’s expiry in September and against the backdrop of steadily worsening bilateral relations.
In August, the US imposed 30% “reciprocal” tariffs on key South African exports, including citrus, steel and wine. The tariffs followed multiple unacknowledged trade proposals sent by South African officials to their US counterparts.
The fraught mood between the two countries followed Washington’s high‑profile boycott of the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg last month. President Donald Trump said no US government officials would attend the summit, repeating claims about the treatment of white South African farmers, which he called “human rights abuses” — assertions that South African officials have strongly denied and that lack credible evidence.
PSG Financial Services chief economist Johann Els welcomed the extension announcement as a “positive” step but cautioned that the legislation still faces a long road, including approval by Trump.
He added the direct economic impact would likely be limited even if the bill is passed. “South Africa exports less than 8% of its total goods to the US, and products covered under Agoa account for less than 4%,” he said.
But while the overall macroeconomic effect may be modest, the consequences for specific industries such as automotive manufacturing could be severe, particularly in the Eastern Cape, where vehicle exports form the backbone of local employment and manufacturing output.
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