AGOA Extension and Bilateral Engagement Act of 2025
This bill, titled the AGOA Extension and Bilateral Engagement Act of 2025, would (1) extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for a longer period (through 2027) and make related adjustments to AGOA’s textile programs, and (2) require a comprehensive, bipartisan review of the U.S.–South Africa bilateral relationship with a formal report and potential sanctions considerations. The AGOA extension includes longer run times for certain trade-preference programs (regional apparel and third-country fabric) and a few technical corrections. The South Africa provisions establish a sense of Congress about strategic concerns, mandate a full government review of bilateral ties, and create reporting requirements that could pave the way for sanctions if the evaluation finds risks to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. Overall, the bill aims to sustain and deepen trade opportunities under AGOA while increasing U.S. government scrutiny of and leverage over South Africa in light of geopolitical concerns, particularly regarding South Africa’s alignment on global issues and potential challenges to U.S. interests.
Key Points
- 1Extension of AGOA to 2027:
- 2- Extends the AGOA program window from 2025 to 2027.
- 3- For AGOA’s textile-related programs, extensions apply to:
- 4- Regional apparel article program (lengthened to 23 one-year periods, up from 21).
- 5- Third-country fabric program (extensions to 2027).
- 6- Makes technical corrections to cross-references in AGOA-related provisions (e.g., correcting references from 506A(c) to 506A(e)).
- 7Strategy to develop bilateral trade agreements with AGOA countries:
- 8- Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR), within 180 days of enactment, to submit a strategy to expand bilateral trade and investment with AGOA beneficiary countries.
- 9- The strategy must include a looks at current trade/investment flows, identify at least five prioritized AGOA countries for negotiations, establish criteria for readiness (including AGOA eligibility criteria and governance/human-rights considerations), and provide a timeline/work plan for starting negotiations.
- 10- Requires consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and various stakeholders (business, labor, civil society, regional groups).
- 11South Africa bilateral relationship provisions (Title II):
- 12- Sense of Congress: Asserts it is in U.S. national security interest to deter certain security cooperation with China and Russia, and criticizes the ANC’s current alignment with China, Russia, and Hamas as contrary to U.S. interests.
- 13- Full review mandate: The President, with key agency leaders, must conduct a comprehensive review of the U.S.–South Africa bilateral relationship.
- 14- Report and certification: Within 120 days, the President must submit findings from the review and provide a certification (in consultation with State and Defense) stating whether South Africa has engaged in activities undermining U.S. national security or foreign policy interests, with an unclassified report and a classified annex as needed.
- 15- Sanctions-reporting requirement: Within 120 days, the President (with State and Treasury) must produce a classified report on senior South African government officials and ANC leaders who have engaged in corruption or human-rights abuses that could justify sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, including detailed conduct descriptions and timelines or justifications for not sanctioning.
- 16- Defined committees: “Appropriate congressional committees” are the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee for purposes of the Title II provisions.