US House approves AGOA extension to 2028
Lewanika Timothy | Monday January 19, 2026 06:00
The vote, this week, enjoyed bipartisan support with 340 members of the House voting in favour of the deal, whilst 50 voted against the bill. The future of AGOA has been in the balance in the years leading to this month’s vote, with fears of a change in American policy towards preferential trade.
AGOA is a trade preferential agreement between the United States and certain eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa that allows over 1,800 products from these countries to enter the United States duty-free, including in the leading African export industries of textiles and oil. It was last renewed in 2015 for 10 years and expired at the end of September 2025.
For Africa, AGOA’s renewal breathes hope for several sectors. Annually, AGOA involves billions of US dollars in trade with Africa and whilst Botswana’s own exports, which were mainly textiles, have declined, resurgent numbers are being seen in diamond jewellery from KGK Diamonds and other non-diamond sectors.
An earlier report by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) showed that Botswana’s utilisation of AGOA collapsed from 100% in 2014 to zero in 2021, as local producers failed to take advantage of the world’s richest market. Although AGOA provides for more than 1,000 product lines, Botswana’s exports under the trade arrangement over the years have almost exclusively been apparel.
The approval by the House of Representatives now means the bill moves to the Senate, where its approval will see it land on President Donald Trump’s desk for assent into law. At present, it is unclear how the new AGOA will co-exist with the tariffs imposed by Trump on most countries, including the 15% for Botswana.
The new bill seeks to offer qualifying products that have been imported since AGOA’s expiration retroactive tariff benefits.
The Trump administration has largely been seen to be opposing one-sided or preferential trade deals that provide tariff benefits for non-Americans. The US president has, however, come out in support of a short-term AGOA renewal while debates take place over the agreement’s details and its long-term future.
AGOA remains the United States’ most visible effort to support Africa’s economic goals. In a world of global power struggles, with the Chinese investing heavily in expanding that country’s economic and diplomatic dominance, losing AGOA would signal America’s further retreat from a continent which will control the future through its large mineral reserves.