South Africa and Rwanda lose access to U.S.’ AGOA trade pact

South Africa and Rwanda have lost their duty-free access to the U.S. granted under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which Pretoria had lobbied hard to retain. President Donald “Trump found that the governments of Rwanda and South Africa are engaging in practices that are inconsistent with AGOA’s eligibility criteria,” U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Monday.

For South Africa, the government has been bracing for bad news on its continued eligibility for AGOA as ties between Washington and Pretoria have frayed since Trump returned to the White House in 2025.