US President Donald Trump signs short-term extension of AGOA

United States President Donald Trump has extended a 26-year-old free-trade agreement with African countries, after months of uncertainty over the future of the deal. 

Trump on Tuesday signed into law an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), effective retroactively from 30 September 2025, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. 

The extension is short-term and lasts until December 31, providing only brief relief to African countries. 

The US House of Representatives last month passed legislation to extend the law for three years, but the Senate later reduced the extension to one year, according to Reuters.

The US trade office also said the agreement would be modified to account for US-imposed tariffs as part of the Republican president’s America First policy.

“AGOA for the 21st century must demand more from our trading partners and yield more market access for US businesses, farmers, and ranchers to build upon the benefits it has historically provided to Africa and the United States,” the office said in a statement.

Introduced in 2000 under the presidency of Bill Clinton, AGOA allows some 1,800 products to be exported to the US duty-free, including crude oil, cars and car parts, clothing, textiles and agricultural produce.  

It drives much of the trade between the US and Africa, which was valued at more than $100 billion in 2024 by the US trade office. 

The agreement included 34 African countries when the Trump administration allowed it to expire in September 2025. 

Many businesses in affected nations then claimed that the end of the deal would endanger tens of thousands of jobs.