Notice2026-08347
Request for Comments on the Modernization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
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Published
April 29, 2026
Issuing agencies
Trade Representative, Office of United States
Abstract
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) invites comments from interested parties to inform the development of trade policy recommendations on the modernization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is authorized through December 31, 2026. As part of forthcoming Congressional consideration of AGOA reauthorization, USTR will provide recommendations to Congress on reforms and modernizations to AGOA to ensure the program meets the needs of American workers and businesses, advances U.S. national security and economic security goals, optimizes balanced bilateral trade flows with beneficiary countries, and provides a path for reciprocal trade agreements with the more advanced countries as they develop and graduate from the program.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 82 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23142-23144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08347]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
[Docket Number USTR-2026-0166]
Request for Comments on the Modernization of the African Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
invites comments from interested parties to inform the development of
trade policy recommendations on the modernization of the African Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is authorized through December 31,
2026. As part of forthcoming Congressional consideration of AGOA
reauthorization, USTR will provide recommendations to Congress on
reforms and modernizations to AGOA to ensure the program meets the
needs of American workers and businesses, advances U.S. national
security and economic security goals, optimizes balanced bilateral
trade flows with beneficiary countries, and provides a path for
reciprocal trade agreements with the more advanced countries as they
develop and graduate from the program.
DATES: To be assured of consideration, please submit comments by May
15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> (<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>). Follow the instructions
for submission in section II below. The docket number is USTR-2026-
0166. For alternatives to online submissions, please contact Ann Marie
Warmenhoven-Tilias, Director of African Affairs, Office of African
Affairs, in advance of the relevant deadline at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8acbe4e4a4c7a4ddebf8e7efe4e2e5fcefe4a7dee3e6e3ebf9cafff9fef8a4efe5faa4ede5fc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b7f6d9d999fa99e0d6c5dad2d9dfd8c1d2d99ae3dedbded6c4f7c2c4c3c599d2d8c799d0d8c1">[email protected]</span></a> or 202.395.5986.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Marie Warmenhoven-Tilias, Director
of African Affairs, Office of African Affairs, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f1e3131711271083e2d323a313730293a31720b3633363e2c1f2a2c2b2d713a302f71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adecc3c383e083faccdfc0c8c3c5c2dbc8c380f9c4c1c4ccdeedd8ded9df83c8c2dd83cac2db">[email protected]</span></a> or 202.395.5986.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
AGOA (Title I of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, Pub. L.
106-200) (19 U.S.C. 2466a et seq.), as amended, authorizes the
President to designate sub-Saharan African countries as beneficiaries
eligible for duty-free treatment for certain additional products not
included for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) (Title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et
seq.) (1974 Act), as well as for the preferential treatment for certain
textile and apparel articles. The President may designate a country as
a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country eligible for AGOA benefits if
he determines that the country meets the eligibility criteria set forth
in section 104 of AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703) and section 502 of the 1974 Act
(19 U.S.C. 2462).
Section 104 of AGOA includes requirements that the country has
established or is making continual progress toward establishing, among
other things:
<bullet> a market-based economy;
<bullet> the rule of law;
<bullet> political pluralism;
<bullet> the right to due process;
<bullet> the elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment;
<bullet> economic policies to reduce poverty;
<bullet> a system to combat corruption and bribery; and
<bullet> protection of internationally recognized worker rights.
In addition, the country may not engage in activities that
undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests or engage
in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Section
502 of the 1974 Act provides for country eligibility criteria under
GSP. For a complete list of the AGOA eligibility criteria and a list of
the GSP criteria, see section 104 of the AGOA and section 502 of the
1974 Act.
Section 506A of the 1974 Act requires the President to monitor and
annually review the progress of each sub-Saharan African country in
meeting the foregoing eligibility criteria in order to determine if a
beneficiary sub-Saharan African country should continue to be eligible,
and if a sub-Saharan African country that currently is not a
beneficiary, should be designated as a beneficiary. If the President
determines that a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country is not
meeting the eligibility requirements, the President must terminate the
designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African
country. The President also may withdraw, suspend, or limit the
application of duty-free treatment with respect to specific articles
from a country if the President determines that it would be more
effective in promoting compliance with AGOA eligibility requirements
than terminating the designation of the country as a beneficiary sub-
Saharan African country.
On September 30, 2025, the previous authorization for AGOA expired.
On February 3, 2026, President Trump
[[Page 23143]]
signed into law legislation that reauthorizes the AGOA trade preference
program through December 31, 2026, with retroactive effect to September
30, 2025. See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Pub. L. 119-75,
140 Stat. 173). Should Congress wish to extend AGOA beyond December 31,
2026, it must pass additional legislation.
Since its enactment in 2000, AGOA has been an important element of
U.S. economic policy and commercial engagement with Africa. However,
sub-Saharan Africa's share of total U.S. goods imports has remained
low--between one and four percent--over the life of the program. In
fact, U.S. total imports under the AGOA program (including GSP)
followed a downward trend for a decade starting in 2011 and, despite
the rise in recent years, 2025 goods imports were 90 percent lower than
2011 levels. AGOA's impact on trade diversification has also been
limited, with the majority of U.S. goods imports coming from a few
countries, such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, and originating
from a narrow set of traditional sectors including energy, textiles and
apparels, and transportation. Although a one-way preferential trade
program would be expected to generate political will and improve both
trade relations and trends in the region, the U.S. continues to lag
behind global competitors in exporting and importing goods to the
region. According to World Bank data, sub-Saharan Africa's total goods
and services imports have surged five-fold to $570 billion since 2000.
Despite this historic growth, America's share of the sub-Saharan
African market has shrunk significantly. At the same time, China, the
European Union, and India have captured more of Africa's fast-growing
markets. According to the World Integrated Trade Solution database, in
2023, the European Union and China captured 20 percent and 19 percent
of sub-Saharan Africa's goods imports, with $87 billion and $81 billion
worth of imports, respectively. In the same year, sub-Saharan Africa's
goods imports from India reached $32 billion while imports from the
United States remained at $22 billion, corresponding to market shares
of 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Viewed in this context,
AGOA's impact on U.S.-Africa trade trends and economic relations have
been ineffective and uneven across countries, and raise serious
questions about the impact of AGOA as a trade program.
Although Congress originally conceived of AGOA as a tool for
economic development based on the power of access to the U.S. market,
only two countries have graduated from AGOA by reaching ``high-income''
status as defined by the World Bank. Furthermore, despite the promise
that AGOA would help open markets in African countries to U.S. exports,
some beneficiary countries maintained, or even erected, barriers to
U.S. exports as reported in the National Trade Estimate Report. In
fact, many beneficiary countries have opened their markets to other
developed economies, including, for example, 35 sub-Saharan African
countries pursuing Economic Partnership Agreements with the European
Union, while limiting market access to the United States through tariff
and non-tariff barriers.
From 2000 to 2025, global agricultural exports to sub-Saharan
Africa \1\ have increased by more than 1,000 percent. However, the
share of the U.S. in global agricultural exports to sub-Saharan Africa
has declined from 15 percent to 3 percent during this period. Once a
top agricultural exporter to sub-Saharan Africa, during AGOA's
lifespan, the United States has lost significant market share to China,
the European Union, India, and others. For instance, in 2025, total
U.S. agricultural exports to sub-Saharan Africa were $2.2 billion,
compared to $14.5 billion for the EU, $6.8 billion for India, $5.1
billion for Malaysia, $4.8 billion for Brazil, $3.4 billion for
Indonesia, and $2.9 billion for China.
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\1\ Agricultural export data is based on the definition of
agricultural goods as defined by WTO Agreement on Agriculture and
available official trade statistics from exporting countries from
2000 to 2025.
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Many significant AGOA recipient countries maintain high barriers to
U.S. agricultural trade including Angola, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa,
Tanzania, and Nigeria. Nigeria maintains import prohibitions on 25
categories of products, including vegetable oils, beef, pork, and
poultry. Senegal maintains an unjustified ban on U.S. exports of
uncooked poultry. South Africa maintains high tariffs on U.S. poultry,
wine, and spirits while providing preferred access to the European
Union. South Africa has imposed unjustified animal health restrictions
on U.S. pork products, permitting a very limited list of U.S. pork
exports to enter South Africa. Ghana collects numerous duties and
charges on U.S. imports, in addition to customs tariffs, substantially
increasing the cost of trading for exporters to Ghana.
Since 2000, the presence of strategic competitors in sub-Saharan
Africa has increased to the detriment of U.S. national security,
economic security, and foreign policy interests. These third countries
have also indirectly benefited from duty-free access to the U.S. market
through this program. Moreover, AGOA does not address emerging issues
of national interest, namely the role sub-Saharan African countries
play in critical mineral supply chains.
The U.S. Trade Representative has indicated his intent to work with
Congress on the modernization of AGOA to address the aforementioned
shortcomings and make other reforms to better align AGOA with the
national interest.
As part of that work, USTR invites public comments on the
modernization of AGOA, including recommendations on how the United
States can utilize AGOA to deepen reciprocal trade relationships with
AGOA beneficiaries in order to better align AGOA with the America First
Trade Policy of January 30, 2025, and related Executive Orders and
Presidential Directives. Specifically, USTR invites comments from
interested parties on topics including:
<bullet> how AGOA can better address non-tariff barriers and other
impediments to U.S. exports;
<bullet> how AGOA can assist in increasing demand for U.S. products
and creating U.S. jobs;
<bullet> how can AGOA be used to create investment opportunities
for U.S. businesses across sectors, including infrastructure;
<bullet> what other U.S. government programs or agencies can be
used to amplify the impacts of AGOA;
<bullet> the extent to which current AGOA eligibility criteria are
too numerous, and thus undermine effective enforcement;
<bullet> the extent to which current AGOA eligibility criteria are
too broad and, if so, what criteria should be made more specific and
objective;
<bullet> whether new eligibility criteria should be added to AGOA;
<bullet> whether certain AGOA statutory provisions should be added,
removed, or modified to increase the likelihood that beneficiary
countries graduate after a reasonable period of time;
<bullet> how AGOA should be modified to improve the resilience of
the U.S. supply chain for critical minerals;
<bullet> whether impediments exist within AGOA to effective
enforcement of eligibility criteria;
<bullet> identify methods to strengthen enforcement of and better
promote compliance with AGOA's eligibility criteria;
<bullet> whether AGOA should include additional considerations for
``graduation'' from the program, in addition to a consideration of
income thresholds;
[[Page 23144]]
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to protect American workers and
combat unfair trading practices;
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to increase U.S. exports;
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to increase U.S. manufacturing
competitiveness;
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to ensure beneficiary countries
give the United States the same market access as those countries offer
other developed economies;
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to increase U.S. technological
competitiveness;
<bullet> how AGOA may be structured to strengthen U.S. national and
economic security;
<bullet> how AGOA can be modified to ensure trade preferences
accrue predominantly to the United States and beneficiary countries,
rather than third-countries; and,
<bullet> whether, and the means by which, the United States could
upgrade its relationship with beneficiary countries, including through
bilateral trade agreements.
II. Procedures for Written Submissions
To ensure consideration, submit your written comments by the May
15, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET deadline. All submission must be in English.
Interested persons must submit written comments in response to this
notice using the appropriate docket at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. To
make a submission, enter Docket Number USTR-2026-0166, titled `Request
for Comments on the Modernization of the African Growth and Opportunity
Act' in the `search for' field on the home page and click `search'. The
site will provide a search results page listing all documents
associated with this docket. Find a reference to this notice by
selecting `notice' under `document type' in the `refine documents
results' section on the left side of the screen and click the `comment'
link. <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> allows users to make submissions by filling in a
`type comment' field or by attaching a document using the `upload file'
field. USTR strongly prefers that you provide submissions in an
attached document (in the .doc or .pdf file format) and note `see
attached' in the comment field on the online submission form. to the
extent possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other
attachments in the same file as the submission itself, not as separate
files. You will receive a tracking number upon completion of the
submission procedure at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. The tracking number is
confirmation that <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> received your submission. Keep the
confirmation for your records. USTR is not able to provide technical
assistance for <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>.
III. Business Confidential Information (BCI) Submissions
If you request that USTR treat information submitted as BCI, you
must certify that the information is business confidential and you
would not customarily release it to the public. For any comments
submitted electronically that contain BCI, the file name of the
business confidential version should begin with the characters `BCI.'
You must clearly mark any page containing BCI with `BUSINESS
CONFIDENTIAL' at the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing
BCI also must submit a public version of their submission that will be
placed in the docket for public inspection. The file name of the public
version should begin with the character `P.' If these procedures are
not sufficient to protect BCI or otherwise protect business interests,
please contact Ann Marie Warmenhoven-Tilias, Director of African
Affairs, Office of African Affairs, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#71301f1f5f3c5f2610031c141f191e07141f5c25181d18100231040205035f141e015f161e07"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4c0d22226201621b2d3e21292224233a292261182520252d3f0c393f383e6229233c622b233a">[email protected]</span></a> or 202.395.5986 to discuss whether alternative
arrangements are possible.
For further information on using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, please consult
the resources provided on the website by clicking on `How to Use
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>' on the bottom of the home page.
V. Public Viewing of Review Submissions
USTR will post written submissions in the docket for public
inspection, except properly designated BCI. You can view submissions at
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> by entering Docket Number USTR-2026-0166 in the search
field on the home page.
Jeffrey Goettman,
Deputy United States Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2026-08347 Filed 4-28-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3390-F4-P
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