President John Dramani Mahama has described the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as “technically dead” following the United States’ decision to impose fresh tariffs on African exports, including a 15% levy on Ghanaian goods.
Speaking at his first presidential media encounter of his second term, Mahama said the move undermines the very foundation of AGOA and signals little chance of the agreement’s renewal.
“Countries in Africa previously enjoyed zero tariffs in the U.S. because we were considered part of the developing world. It was a concession the U.S. extended to us. Then came President Trump with a more transactional mindset.
“He argued that the U.S. had been taken for granted for too long and slapped a 15% tariff on us from a zero-tariff base. AGOA is technically dead. It was due for renegotiation in September, but with this new tariff, there is no way AGOA will be renewed. We are just watching carefully,” Mahama noted.
He added that although Congress holds the constitutional power to impose tariffs, former U.S. President Donald Trump often pushed those limits in pursuit of his protectionist policies.
Enacted in 2000, AGOA has been the backbone of U.S. trade relations with sub-Saharan Africa, granting duty-free access to over 1,800 products, alongside more than 5,000 under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The programme was modernised and extended in 2015 to run until 2025, but its future now appears uncertain.
For Ghana, the tariffs deal a major blow to export competitiveness, reversing years of preferential trade benefits that helped local industries gain access to the U.S. market.
source: almightyfm.com
