WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today strongly urged Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose H.R. 6500, legislation that would extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for an additional three years with no substantive reforms to address serious deficiencies in the legislation. The bill moves the expiration date of the duty-free trade preferences for AGOA-eligible African countries from September 30, 2025 out to December 31, 2028. The House is set to consider AGOA renewal this week under an expedited process.
AGOA, first enacted in 2000, provides qualifying sub-Saharan African nations with tariff-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products and was intended to support economic development, democratic reform, and stronger geopolitical ties to the United States. Currently, 32 sub-Saharan African countries are eligible for AGOA trade preferences. Supporters in Congress have hailed the extension as a continuation of U.S. foreign policy and commercial engagement in Africa. However, since its inception, AGOA has not been proven to be an effective diplomatic and economic tool, especially compared to China’s growing influence in the region.
“Congress should not extend a trade program that has produced persistent U.S. trade deficits, weakened American manufacturers, and handed China a strategic advantage in Africa,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “AGOA’s one-way preferences undermine tariff collections that could be invested at home and leave U.S. producers at a competitive disadvantage, all while failing to achieve its stated development or geopolitical objectives.”
CPA’s full report, ‘Why the United States Should Not Renew AGOA,’ outlines the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) growing scope of influence concerns in detail, and calls for a comprehensive reassessment of U.S.–Africa trade policy: one that enhances competitive American manufacturing, secures fair trade terms, and aligns strategic economic interests with national priorities.
AGOA FACTS
- 29 of 32 AGOA-Eligible Countries: Have formally joined China’s Belt & Road Initiative as of 2024.
- An Open Door to Chinese Cheating: AGOA allows duty-free access for countries locked into Beijing’s belt and road and receiving Chinese infrastructure and industrial investment.
- Geopolitical Failure: China now trades over $164 billion more with AGOA countries annually than the U.S. – and is involved in over a third of all African port developments.
- No Development Impact: In 2024, over $18 billion (64%) of AGOA imports were Resource Trap commodities like crude oil, raw minerals, and gold – not industrial goods that boost development.
- Human Rights Violators Still Benefit: Countries such as South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria, and more remain eligible despite persistent rights abuses and governance concerns.
- Trade Deficits and Job Losses: The U.S. has never run a trade surplus with AGOA countries, while American workers face mounting pressure from duty-free imports.
- $1 Billion in Lost Revenue: The U.S. forfeits $1.01 billion in tariff revenue each year through AGOA’s one-sided trade preferences.
CPA has strongly opposed the extension of AGOA, arguing it is a failed policy that weakens American industry, misses its development goals, and undermines U.S. strategic interests.
AGOA has not delivered what its proponents once promised. Rather than fostering diversified industrial growth, it has funneled duty-free access for raw commodities and low-value-added goods – locking countries into resource curse extraction instead of development. The result for these African countries is concentrated power, corruption, and instability, alongside a policy that has coincided with rising Chinese – not U.S. – influence, zero U.S. trade surpluses, and over $1 billion a year in foregone tariff revenue that could be invested at home.
CPA’s analysis found that AGOA has disproportionately benefited extractive industries at the expense of deeper industrial development, and that China now trades far more with AGOA countries than the United States does. This in turn reinforces global supply chains that favor Beijing’s influence on the continent. While criticizing the extension, CPA emphasizes the cost to American manufacturers and workers in the industrial goods Africa does export – and challenges policymakers to rethink how trade policy supports both domestic prosperity and international engagement.
CPA also noted concerns that AGOA’s eligibility requirements – including human rights protections and governance benchmarks – have been inconsistently enforced, allowing countries with troubling records to retain preferential access. Nigeria, for example, has remained eligible despite long-standing concerns over security-force abuses and governance failures, and South Africa has continued to benefit from AGOA even amid entrenched political corruption and the progressive undermining of democratic institutions.
CPA further warned that AGOA’s country-of-origin waivers have undermined the program’s stated development goals by allowing products made largely with third-country inputs to enter the U.S. duty-free. In practice, these waivers have enabled apparel and other manufactured goods assembled in AGOA countries using Chinese-produced materials to qualify for preferential access with little value-added in Africa, weakening incentives for local supply-chain development while exposing U.S. manufacturers to tariff-free competition from Chinese-linked supply chains.
Advocates of AGOA have argued that its extension will continue to support economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, help diversify supply chains, and offer a counterweight to rising Chinese influence in the region. However, reality has proven that Chinese trade and infrastructure investments have grown significantly across the continent in recent decades.
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