THE African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), long considered the bedrock of US-Africa trade relations, is facing its biggest threat in 25 years. The sweeping new tariffs unveiled by US President Donald Trump this week have cast serious doubt over the future of the trade pact, with Lesotho—one of its biggest textile beneficiaries—suffering the hardest blow.
The US has imposed a 50 percent import tax on goods from Lesotho, effectively gutting the core benefits of Agoa. The legislation, which was introduced in 2000 to replace aid with trade, had offered duty-free access to the US market for eligible African countries. Lesotho had become one of the act’s most celebrated success stories.
‘Thursday was a terrible and devastating day,’ said Teboho Kobeli, the founder of Afri-Expo Textiles in Maseru, speaking to the BBC. His factory employs around 2,000 people and exports garments to major US brands like Walmart, GAP and Old Navy. ‘With this new tariff, we’re being priced out of the market. It could destroy everything we’ve built under Agoa.’
From flagship policy to uncertainty
Agoa was never just a trade agreement. It was a diplomatic and economic lifeline for over 30 African countries. Designed to stimulate industrialisation, create jobs and support democratic reforms, it became the centrepiece of US engagement with the continent.
But Trump’s unilateral tariff plan, which targets African countries with duties ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent, now threatens to unravel decades of progress. Lesotho, whose economy relies heavily on textile exports to the US, has the most to lose.
South Africa, facing a 31 percent tariff on its exports, has declared the move a deal-breaker. ‘The reciprocal tariffs effectively nullify the preferences that sub-Saharan African countries enjoy under Agoa,’ South Africa’s foreign and trade ministers said in a joint statement.
Legal vs. political: which rules prevail?
Although Trump hasn’t officially repealed Agoa, the new tariffs conflict directly with its tariff-free guarantees. Legal analysts and trade experts say the contradiction creates a murky situation with no clear path forward.
Kenya, which faces a comparatively lighter 10 percent tariff, believes the duties may not override Agoa just yet. ‘Until the law lapses in September 2025 or is repealed by Congress, we believe the tariffs won’t immediately apply,’ said Korir Sing’oei, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
But the damage to investor confidence may already be done. Manufacturers across the continent are now questioning whether the US can be relied on to honour long-standing trade agreements.
A ‘death knell’ for Agoa’s legacy
Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, former secretary-general of UNCTAD and ex-Kenyan trade minister, called the 50 percent tariff on Lesotho a ‘death knell’ for Agoa’s manufacturing sector. He pointed to a World Bank study that predicted a 1 percent drop in Lesotho’s GDP within two years if Agoa benefits were lost. ‘The social and economic fallout would be dramatic,’ he said.
Kituyi also warned that countries like Kenya, even with a lower tariff, may still suffer in the long term. ‘The unpredictability of US policy under Trump is making stable trade partnerships impossible,’ he told the BBC.
US influence retreats as China advances
For analysts, the sudden imposition of tariffs signals more than just a shift in trade. It suggests a deeper withdrawal from the kind of economic diplomacy that Agoa once symbolised.
Michelle Gavin of the Council on Foreign Relations said the Trump administration’s actions show ‘no clear strategy or intention’ and warned of rising Chinese influence. ‘It looks like a withdrawal, an ignoring of an entire huge region of the world,’ she told the BBC.
The tariff move follows sharp cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which had already slashed humanitarian and health funding across the continent. ‘America is destroying its own instruments of influence with abandon now,’ Gavin added.
Agoa at a crossroads
Agoa was due for renewal later this year. But with Washington’s stance growing more insular, and trade terms now dictated more by political mood than policy, hopes for its extension are rapidly fading.
Lesotho’s experience serves as a grim warning: without Agoa’s protections, African exporters are dangerously exposed. And unless the US reverses course, the very principles Agoa was built on—mutual prosperity, trade over aid, and long-term partnership—could be left in the dust of tariff-led disruption.
