‘AGOA Is Technically Dead’ – Mahama Declares As U.S. Slaps 15% Tariffs On Ghana

President John Dramani Mahama has sounded the death knell for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after the United States imposed new tariffs on African exports, including a 15% levy on Ghanaian goods.

Speaking at his first presidential media encounter of his second term on Wednesday, Mahama said the development signals the collapse of what was once the bedrock of Africa-U.S. trade relations.

“Countries like Africa enjoyed zero tariffs in the U.S. because we were in the developing world. It was a concession that the U.S. gave. In comes President Trump. He has a more transactional mindset. He says the U.S. has been taken for granted for a long time, so even countries like Ghana in Africa, he slapped a 15% tariff on us from a zero tariff,” Mahama explained.

He added bluntly, “AGOA is technically dead. It was due for renegotiation in September, but there is no way with this 15% tariff that AGOA is going to be renewed. We are just watching carefully.”

The President further criticised what he described as Washington’s increasingly unilateral approach to trade. “The power to impose tariffs is that of Congress, but in this case, the U.S. president always pushes the limit,” he said.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act, enacted in 2000, granted duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 1,800 products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries, in addition to 5,000-plus items under the Generalised System of Preferences programme.

Modernised and extended in 2015, AGOA was set to expire in 2025. For many African economies, including Ghana, the scheme boosted export competitiveness by eliminating tariffs on key goods such as textiles, processed foods, and manufactured products.

The Trump administration’s imposition of a 15% tariff represents a direct hit to Ghana’s exporters, who will now face a sharp reversal from years of duty-free trade. Mahama warned that the new policy threatens jobs, investment, and the wider trade balance.

For Ghana, which has been pushing to expand its non-traditional exports under initiatives like the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme, the tariff shock underscores the vulnerability of relying heavily on preferential trade agreements.

With the renegotiation of AGOA originally due this September, Mahama’s declaration underscores a broader shift in global trade dynamics. As Africa looks to reposition itself within a more transactional global order, Ghana may be forced to double down on intra-African trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), headquartered in Accra.

“AGOA’s collapse is a wake-up call,” one trade analyst in Accra noted. “It’s time African countries took full advantage of AfCFTA and diversified partnerships, rather than depending on Washington’s goodwill.”

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