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US President Donald Trump has notified Congress of his intention to remove South Africa and Rwanda from a preferential trade program effective January 1, 2027.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) allows eligible African countries to export thousands of products to the United States duty-free.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement that an annual review found the two countries engaged in practices inconsistent with the program's eligibility criteria.
He added that the Trump administration had also notified the two countries concerned of this decision.
The Trump administration has cited barriers to U.S. trade and investment, as well as concerns related to national security and foreign policy interests in the region.
For South Africa, the United States pointed the finger at corruption.
In a letter to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump said Pretoria's actions on international security, as well as its relationships and cooperation with governments of concern to Washington, risked compromising the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.
He also accused South Africa of maintaining significant barriers to US trade and investment, including restrictions affecting access to agricultural markets, regulatory requirements, investment protection and intellectual property.
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“The Trump administration is working to ensure that our African partners take the necessary steps to meet the eligibility criteria,” Greer said.
South African Trade Minister Parks Tau called the move "regrettable," saying Washington was raising new issues that had not been addressed during trade negotiations between the two countries, which began in 2025.
“We will continue to accelerate the diversification of South Africa's export markets to preserve jobs,” Tau said.
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South Africa has also sought to put the potential impact of losing Agoa benefits into perspective, arguing that its broader trade relationship with the United States goes well beyond this program.
Government figures show that in 2025, about 89% of South African exports to the United States were on ordinary World Trade Organization most favored nation terms, while about 10% benefited from AGOA, up from 28% in 2024.
“The value of South African exports under this program has fallen to around $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) in 2025, from $4 billion the previous year,” Tau said.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $28.8 billion in 2025, while more than 600 American companies operate in South Africa, supporting approximately 134,600 jobs.
Pretoria says the two economies have complementary trade interests. South Africa supplies 12 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the United States, as well as 70% of American isotopes used, among other things, in the treatment of cancer.
South African manufacturers also use US inputs in products exported to the US under AGOA, including vehicles and boats.
According to Jee-A van der Linde, senior economist at Oxford Economics, Washington's decision will put additional pressure on South Africa's manufacturing sector, and it may be difficult to redirect affected exports to other markets.
“The move comes as global trade flows remain disrupted and South Africa faces increasing competition from low-cost Chinese imports, particularly in the automotive industry,” he said.
He noted, however, that South Africa had previously managed to redirect some of its tariff-affected exports to markets such as Europe and China.
The United States Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, said it was regrettable that South African policies had led to its exclusion from Agoa.
“This was a predictable and avoidable outcome, resulting from the South African government's dismissal of legitimate concerns raised by the United States,” he wrote on X.
This announcement comes against a backdrop of tense relations between Washington and the two countries, with the planned termination threatening their access to preferential trade agreements with the United States.
Last year, Trump accused South Africa of persecuting its white minority and launched a program allowing white Afrikaners to gain asylum in the United States.
Trump also reiterated widely discredited allegations of genocide of South Africa's white population.
In the case of Rwanda, Washington has also expressed concerns about human rights, political pluralism, the rule of law and workers' rights.
The move comes barely a week after the Rwandan Defense Ministry was sanctioned by the US Treasury for its alleged role in the armed rebellion in eastern DRC.
The US Treasury said the Rwandan Defense Ministry sent thousands of troops to fight alongside M23 rebels in eastern DRC, providing them with weapons, equipment, logistics and training.
Rwanda has denied supporting the M23 despite overwhelming evidence.
Rwandan exports to the United States reached $43.3 million in 2025, up from $13.1 million in 2024, according to U.S. import data.
Alexander Venter, an economist at Oxford Economics, said Washington accounted for about 2% of Rwanda's merchandise exports in 2025, and only about 4% of its exports to the United States benefited from AGOA preferences.
Neighboring African countries and Asian markets continued to dominate Rwandan trade, Venter added.
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We used AI to help translate this article, originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked the translation before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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