U.S. Representative for Wisconsin, Gwen Moore, has reaffirmed the Democratic Party’s commitment to expanding the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in a move that could broaden Ghana’s duty-free access to the United States market.
Speaking at Ghana’s 69th Independence Day celebration at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Moore expressed strong admiration for Ghana’s history, culture and democratic progress following a recent visit to the country. The trip was undertaken alongside Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of renowned U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
During her remarks, Moore indicated that Democrats intend to strengthen the AGOA framework once they regain a congressional majority, describing the trade programme as a critical instrument for deepening economic ties between the United States and Africa.
“We are very, very, very committed to expanding AGOA. We just won a very slim victory in Congress with regard to being able to extend AGOA temporarily. I’m a Democrat, and so when we get back into the majority, I think we will have an opportunity to make this programme a lot richer and make it available for more products from Ghana.”she said.
Moore’s advocacy carries weight given her membership on the U.S. House of Representatives’ influential Ways and Means Committee, the oldest tax-writing body in Congress responsible for legislation on taxation, tariffs and major fiscal programmes.
She emphasised that the next phase of U.S.–Ghana relations should focus more strongly on trade and economic partnership, noting Ghana’s remarkable transformation since gaining independence from Britain in 1957.
“And this next chapter of U.S.-Ghanaian relations, I really want to lean into the trade aspect. When Ghana won its independence from Britain, it was still very dependent on exports, and yet here is a country that has transformed its economy in such a remarkable way to become economically independent, not just independent on paper.” she said.
Ghana is among 39 Sub-Saharan African countries that benefit from duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,500 products under a combination of AGOA and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Eligible exports include textiles, agricultural commodities, manufactured goods and selected industrial products.
Historically, Ghana has been a net importer of goods from the United States, although trade between the two countries has become increasingly balanced in recent years. Oil and gas account for the largest share of Ghana’s exports to the U.S., followed by agricultural and food products. Other notable exports include cocoa derivatives, root vegetables such as yams, apparel, timber products and processed foods.
In 2020, Ghana exported goods worth approximately US$719 million to the United States, down from US$961 million in 2019, while imports from the U.S. amounted to about US$798 million during the same period. Ghana’s key imports from the U.S. include motor vehicles, particularly used vehicles, as well as industrial equipment, plastics and poultry products.
For goods to qualify for preferential market access under AGOA or GSP, exporters must meet strict rules of origin requirements proving that the products originate from Ghana. During 2020, less than US$1 million in import duties were levied on Ghanaian exports to the United States, largely on certain petroleum oil imports. Most other exports entered the U.S. duty-free under AGOA, GSP or standard World Trade Organization tariff commitments.
Established in 2000 under U.S. President Bill Clinton, AGOA remains the cornerstone of U.S.–Africa trade relations. The programme grants eligible African countries duty-free and quota-free access to the American market for thousands of products, particularly in agriculture, textiles and manufacturing.
However, the future of the programme had faced uncertainty following its scheduled expiration in 2025, compounded by policy shifts that included the imposition of average tariffs of about 15 percent on some African exports, potentially undermining the benefits previously enjoyed under AGOA.
In response, the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a three-year extension of AGOA in a decisive 340–54 vote, pushing the programme’s validity to 31 December 2028. The bill, sponsored by Republican Congressman Jason Smith, now awaits final approval by the U.S. Senate.
Beyond textiles, the extension is expected to benefit Ghana’s energy sector — particularly oil and gas exports, which remain the country’s largest category of exports to the United States — as well as agriculture. Cocoa exports alone were valued at approximately US$196 million in 2020.
The renewed framework also strengthens Ghana–U.S. economic relations, which have expanded significantly over the past two decades. According to U.S. Embassy briefings in Accra, bilateral trade between the two countries has grown from approximately US$206 million in 2000 to nearly US$4 billion today.
In 2022 alone, Ghana exported about US$2.76 billion worth of goods to the United States, although only about 26 percent of those exports were conducted under AGOA preferences.
According to projections by the International Trade Centre, failure to extend AGOA could have resulted in export losses of up to US$189 million by 2029 for African beneficiary countries. The extension therefore offers critical relief for economies across the continent, including Ghana, as the country continues efforts to stabilise and strengthen its economy following the economic challenges of recent years.
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