US President Donald Trump has notified Congress of plans to remove South Africa and Rwanda from a preferential trade programme, ending their duty-free access to the American market from 1 January 2027.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) allows eligible African countries to export thousands of products to the US without paying duties.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said an annual review found that both countries were engaging in practices inconsistent with the programme’s eligibility requirements.
He said the Trump administration had also notified the two countries of the decision.
Washington cited barriers to US trade and investment, alongside concerns over national security and foreign policy interests in the region.
For South Africa, the US raised concerns about corruption.
In a letter to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump said Pretoria’s actions on international security and its relations and cooperation with governments of concern to Washington risked undermining US national security and foreign policy interests.
He also accused South Africa of maintaining significant barriers to American trade and investment, including restrictions affecting agricultural market access, regulatory requirements, investment protections and intellectual property.
“The Trump administration is working to ensure our African partners take the necessary steps to meet the eligibility criteria,” Greer said.
South Africa’s Trade Minister Parks Tau described the decision as “unfortunate”, saying Washington was raising new issues that had not featured in trade negotiations between the two countries, which began in 2025.
“We will continue to accelerate the diversification of South Africa’s export markets to protect jobs,” Tau said.
South Africa has also sought to put the potential impact of losing Agoa benefits into perspective, arguing that its broader trade relationship with the US extends well beyond the programme.
Government figures show that about 89% of South African exports to the US entered under ordinary World Trade Organization most-favoured-nation terms in 2025, while around 10% benefited from Agoa, down from 28% in 2024.
“The value of South African exports under the programme fell to about $1.7bn (£1.3bn) in 2025, from $4bn (£3bn) the previous year,” Tau said.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $28.8bn in 2025, while more than 600 American companies operate in South Africa, supporting about 134,600 jobs.
Pretoria says the two economies have complementary trade interests.
South Africa supplies 12 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the US, as well as 70% of American isotopes used, among other things, in cancer treatment.
South African manufacturers also use American inputs in products exported to the US under Agoa, including vehicles and boats.
US Ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III said it was regrettable that South African policies had led to its termination from Agoa.
“This was a predictable and preventable outcome resulting from the rejection by South Africa’s government of real concerns raised by the US,” he wrote on X.
The announcement comes amid strained relations between Washington and both countries, with the proposed termination threatening their access to preferential trade arrangements with the US.
Last year, Trump accused South Africa of persecuting its white minority and launched a programme for white Afrikaners to seek asylum in the US.
Trump also repeated widely discredited claims of a genocide of South Africa’s white population.
In Rwanda’s case, Washington also raised concerns about human rights, political pluralism, the rule of law and workers’ rights.
The move comes barely a week after Rwanda’s defence ministry was hit with sanctions by the US Treasury over its alleged role in the armed rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The US Treasury said Rwanda’s defence ministry had directed thousands of troops to fight alongside M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo, providing weapons, equipment, logistics and training.
Rwanda has denied backing the M23 despite overwhelming evidence.
Rwanda saw its exports to the US rise to $43.3 million in 2025, up from $13.1 million in 2024, according to US import data.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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