The African Growth and Opportunity Act, the US-Africa trade preference pact, is on the path for a two-year renewal after the Senate passed a government funding bill over the weekend that included an extension for the program.
But there’s no guarantee that the bill will pass the House of Representatives, which could ultimately strip out the AGOA extension or adjust it, as one former Hill staffer told Semafor.
AGOA has been a key force in driving duty-free African exports to the US since it was first implemented in 2000. The Senate bill would extend the pact, which is set to lapse at the end of the year, until 2028 without any modifications. But AGOA is at odds with the Trump administration’s high-profile push for tariffs. The ex-staffer said the House would want a deal aligned with the US president’s trade agenda, while also giving industry enough certainty to invest, making an outright two-year extension less likely.
