There is bipartisan support in Washington for a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which waived US duties on thousands of goods from sub-Saharan African countries for the past 25 years.

But companies that invested in factories and farms to take advantage of duty-free access say even a temporary lapse will harm operations they built over many years, especially as they already face country-specific tariffs Trump imposed in August.

Pankaj Bedi, chairman of Nairobi-based apparel company United Aryan, which supplies Target and Walmart , predicted some immediate layoffs as tariffs as high as a third of the value of textiles exports snap back into place.

He said some “responsible buyers” have agreed to absorb temporary losses in hopes that AGOA would be renewed retroactively but that if an extension is not agreed by November, “such support will no longer be possible”.

–Reuters–