In testimony before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on July 22, 2025, Beth Hughes, VP of Trade and Customs Policy at the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), urged a long-term extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to sustain trade-driven opportunities between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa. Advocating beyond annual renewals, Hughes emphasized the need for stability and investor confidence to harness AGOA’s full potential.
Hughes highlighted multiple success stories from AAFA members: a new garment factory in Togo employing 250 local workers and expanding to 500 with plans to ship finished goods to a U.S. wage base workforce; a U.S. firm relocating nearly half of its production capacity to Madagascar as a strategic shift from Asia; and another company fully transitioning operations to Ghana and Tanzania, now supporting over 10,000 mostly female workers and supplying millions of garments annually to U.S. businesses. These investments hinge directly on conserved AGOA trade benefits.
Hughes urged policy reforms to ramp up AGOA effectiveness, including shifting from yearly to tri-annual eligibility reviews, permitting cumulation of inputs from AfCFTA countries, modernizing customs protocols, adjusting apparel quotas, and revising graduation criteria for beneficiary status. She described AGOA as a proven catalyst for industrial growth, job creation, and trade diversification.
Support for this vision extends beyond AAFA. U.S. legislators—Senators Chris Coons and James Risch—have introduced the AGOA Renewal and Improvement Act of 2024, which would extend AGOA through 2041 and lock in key provisions like third-country fabric rules and broader product coverage. African trade ministers have also called for early renewal with modifications to protect regional supply chains and investor certainty.
However, AGOA’s future remains uncertain. With its current expiry set for September 2025 and rising U.S. tariffs imposed on African exports, particularly in textiles and automobiles, analysts warn the programme could effectively collapse unless renewed promptly. AAFA’s appeal underscores the urgency: without long-term renewal, many U.S. and African investments risk stalling, jeopardizing thousands of jobs and the broader promise of U.S.–Africa trade momentum.
