South Africa and Rwanda are set to be removed from a US trade initiative that has provided duty-free access to the US market for thousands of products from sub-Saharan African countries for 26 years, DW reports.
On Monday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said US President Donald Trump intends to "terminate" the two countries from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program starting in January 2027.
The program, which comes under regular review, was extended in February by Trump.
In a statement, Greer said that "the governments of Rwanda and South Africa are engaging in practices that are inconsistent with AGOA's eligibility criteria."
Greer said these practices include "barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region."
The statement did not provide any specific examples of the trade barriers or security and foreign policy issues in question.
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