Jump to navigation

Trump targets four countries with new tariff

Despite US pledges, plans for AGOA revamp are unclear

South Africa, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia were among a group of over 20 countries to be issued with tariff letters from United States President Donald Trump’s administration this week. The first three have been told that they face tariffs of 30% on their exports on 1 August if they fail to offer improved trade terms to US exporters. Tunisia, meanwhile, has been threatened with a 25% rate, less than the 28% originally proposed.

Last week, three months after his so-called ‘Liberation Day tariffs’ announcement, Trump pushed a 9 July deadline to 1 August, during which a 10% levy will remain in place.

Progress on new trade arrangements have been slow and the US President has shown little interest in talks going beyond the duties on goods to tackle services or procurement arrangements. Instead, he has made clear that Washington will impose a minimum 10% tariff on all imports to promote US manufacturing. 

Where the new tariff notices sit alongside the prospect of a revamped Africa Growth and Opportunity Act – promised by US officials at a US-Africa business summit in Luanda in June – is unclear. The Trump administration has indicated that AGOA, which currently offers over 30 African countries tariff- and quota-free access to the US market, will not be scrapped outright when it expires in September. But its main provisions are at odds with the tariffs and the policy motivation behind them (Dispatches, 7/4/25, Legal battles loom over Trump’s Africa tariffs).



Related Articles

No more handouts

Belgium's Sabena went bust. Swissair was to have rescued it but followed it into financial collapse. For Africa's business travellers and public servants, it's a disaster. Swissair, trying...


Great Satan joins the fray

As Sudan's conflict threatens to spread, Washington policy- makers are contemplating the fall of the National Islamic Front

Sudan is moving up Washington's agenda. After years of US ambiguity, those urging a tough line against Khartoum have won the argument over those favouring 'constructive engagement'. This...


The euro cometh

No one knows exactly how hard the new European currency will hit the Franc Zone

Is France finally decolonising its African partners? Or is Paris still trying to have it both ways? These questions dominated the Third Convention Euro-Africaine in Bordeaux, France, on...