US-Africa trade deal questions?

By Yinka Adegoke

Africa watchers in Washington, DC, are increasingly skeptical about the future of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade deal that offers sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market.

The 25-year-old program, set to expire in September, is unlikely to survive in its current form, Capitol Hill staffers and analysts told Semafor, as US President Donald Trump pursues a policy of imposing tariffs on longstanding partner nations.

One congressional staffer, who spoke to Semafor on condition of anonymity, said they viewed AGOA as “80% dead.” News that four Republican Congressmen this month called for South Africa to be ruled ineligible for AGOA over geopolitical concerns has only added to the uncertainty.

Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said she was “not encouraged” by the tone of discussions she has heard about AGOA’s future in Washington. But she said it could be “reframed” within the Trump administration’s “transactional mindset.”