US plans AGOA suspension for South Africa, Rwanda

On November 2, 2026, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that President Donald Trump intends to terminate South Africa and Rwanda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act on January 1, 2027. Greer said an annual interagency review found both governments engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA criteria, including barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Trump notified Congress and the governments of Kigali and Pretoria. President Cyril Ramaphosa called the potential loss "devastating" but said South Africa is seeking new markets, including China's zero-tariff treatment for qualifying products, and added "we should not go out and jump off tall buildings." U.S. Ambassador L. Brent Bozell III called it "a predictable and preventable outcome resulting from the rejection by South Africa's government of real concerns raised by the US" and said Pretoria "must understand the gravity of the situation." Parks Tau said on October 29 that South Africa would have 60 days to address U.S. concerns and put bilateral trade at $28.8bn in 2025. More than 125,000 jobs are estimated to depend on AGOA trade. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Rwanda's Ministry of Defense on October 28, 2026. In 2025 Trump accused South Africa of white genocide in a White House meeting with Ramaphosa.