President Donald Trump has notified Congress of his intention to remove South Africa and Rwanda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act starting Jan. 1, 2027, BBC and DW reported^1,2.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said an annual review found both governments were engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA eligibility, including barriers to U.S. trade and investment and issues tied to U.S. national security and foreign policy, BBC and DW reported^1,2.

For Rwanda, BBC said Washington also raised human rights, political pluralism, the rule of law and workers’ rights, a week after U.S. Treasury sanctions on Rwanda’s defense ministry over eastern Congo¹. For South Africa, BBC said the United States additionally pointed to corruption¹. DW said Greer’s statement did not give specific examples of the trade barriers².

South Africa’s trade minister, Parks Tau, called the decision unfortunate and said Washington was raising new issues, BBC reported¹. DW said Pretoria noted AGOA exports were about 10 percent of its U.S. exports and that South Africa was AGOA’s largest beneficiary, with more than $1.7 billion in goods in 2025².