This bill extends the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade program that gives sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to U.S. markets, through September 30, 2041. The current program was set to expire in 2025, and this legislation lengthens it by 16 additional years to provide long-term stability for African exporters and U.S. businesses that trade with the region. The bill makes several substantive changes to how AGOA operates, including requiring mandatory country eligibility reviews every two years instead of leaving them discretionary, automatically graduating countries to higher-income status after five consecutive years at that level, and strengthening enforcement mechanisms to ensure participating countries meet labor and human rights standards. The legislation authorizes $10 million in fiscal year 2025 for U.S. development agencies to help African countries develop trade strategies and build capacity to better utilize AGOA benefits. It also directs multiple federal agencies to conduct studies and submit reports to Congress on topics including expanded product coverage under AGOA and progress toward negotiating free trade agreements with interested sub-Saharan African countries.
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