The United States (US) chapter of the South African (SA) Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the reauthorisation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) until the end of the year, which for now still includes SA as a beneficiary.
The US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also issued a statement confirming the extension would apply retroactively to September 2025, when AGOA expired.
Greer indicated that AGOA for the 21st century had to demand more from US trading partners and expressed a willingness to work with Congress over the next year to modernise the programme to better align with President Donald Trump’s America First Trade Policy.
In signing a new government funding deal into law, Trump also reauthorised AGOA for one year, backdated until September 2025, a move described as having a stabilising effect for SA.
A statement from Greer said his office would work with relevant US agencies to give effect to any modifications made to the Harmonised Tariff Schedule of the US as a result of AGOA’s reauthorisation.
The reciprocal tariffs imposed by Trump in August 2025, appear to undercut AGOA’s benefits although the legality of those unilateral levies remain the subject of a legal review by the Supreme Court, after two lower courts already ruled them illegal.
–SABC–
