On a 19 May deadline, Sourcing Journal reports on the upcoming review and debate on AGOA's extension.
Jasmin Malik Chua | May 19, 2026
In its own comments calling for a minimum 15-year extension, the United States Fashion Industry Association hailed AGOA as an “undoubted success” for maintaining stable retail prices for American consumers by reducing landed costs and “de-risking” supply chains by lowering dependence on any one region, including China. But the trade group also warned that AGOA’s existing “graduation” provision—once a step toward a more “mature, mutually beneficial” trade relationship—currently penalizes developing African nations because the United States is no longer negotiating free trade agreements meant to replace those benefits.
“AGOA’s graduation provision could be amended in a variety of ways,” said Julia K. Hughes, USFIA’s president. “Congress could eliminate the graduation mechanism altogether; Congress could amend the provision so as to not graduate a country unless it has had a reasonable opportunity to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the U.S.; Congress could give the president the authority to decide whether or not a country should graduate; or Congress could amend the provision so that a country would not graduate unless it exceeded the income cutoff for five consecutive years.”