US drops South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free trade access

Washington’s flagship African trade preference programme changes sharply on January 1, when two of its participants lose duty-free access to the United States market. South Africa and Rwanda will both be dropped. The United States Trade Representative announced the exclusions on Monday, citing practices it described as inconsistent with the deal’s eligibility criteria.

The mechanism at the centre of the decision is the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to American markets. The programme runs until the end of 2028. But eligibility is reviewed annually by the US president. Any removal requires 60 days’ notice to Congress and to the country concerned, procedural steps that now precede the January 1 start of the exclusions.

In a statement, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cited what he called concerning and pervasive practices. “These concerning and pervasive practices include, but are not limited to, barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region,” Greer said.

South Africa’s position is the most consequential. It is AGOA’s largest beneficiary, but its eligibility has come under scrutiny as Washington intensifies criticism of Pretoria, including allegations of discrimination against white Afrikaners that South Africa rejects as false. The exclusion therefore lands on the programme’s biggest user, with practical consequences for exporters who have relied on preferential access.

Pretoria’s own timeline shows the gap between hope and preparation. On Thursday, South Africa’s trade minister said the country hoped for a favorable decision from Washington, arguing that continued market access would serve the best interest of both countries. A little over a week earlier, President Cyril Ramaphosa had told the country it should prepare for an adverse decision. Trade Minister Parks Tau, speaking to reporters in Johannesburg last week, sought to reassure on outcomes. Regardless of the decision on AGOA, he said, South Africa’s economy would remain stable as it seeks other international markets.

Rwanda’s exclusion, meanwhile, arrives amid escalating US economic pressure over its alleged backing of the M23 rebel group in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week, the United States sanctioned the Rwandan defense ministry over those ties, which the Rwandan government denies. The M23 movement, with Rwandan help according to the reporting, has seized swathes of eastern DRC since it took up arms again in 2021, a region home to valuable minerals coveted by world powers.

Kigali has pushed back publicly. Rwanda’s foreign minister told AFP last week that his country should not be a scapegoat for events in DR Congo. “The situation in the DRC, the political situation, the security situation, is mainly a Congolese issue,” Olivier Nduhungirehe said on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, speaking before the US sanctions were imposed. “Rwanda must not be held as a scapegoat for what is happening in Congo forever,” he added.

For operators and exporters on both sides, the operative question is execution: what duty-free access looks like from January 1, and how firms adjust. Further reading on the announcement is available at https://www.africanews.com/2026/11/02/south-africa-and-rwanda-to-be-excluded-from-us-africa-trade-deal/. With the annual review cycle running through 2028, eligibility decisions will keep shaping who can actually use the programme and under what conditions, and both governments now face the task of operating in a market where preferential treatment is no longer guaranteed.