AGOA Extension Act
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The bill would extend duty-free trade preferences for eligible sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through December 31, 2028, and would allow retroactive duty refunds for qualifying imports made after the program's September 30, 2025 lapse.
It would also extend customs user fees and merchandise processing fees through December 31, 2031, keeping the government funding stream tied to import processing intact while giving African exporters and U.S. importers certainty that the trade program remains in force.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would extend, through December 31, 2028, duty-free treatment for products of beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under the Generalized System of Preferences and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), including AGOA's duty-free apparel provisions and the third-country fabric program that lets lesser-developed AGOA countries use non-AGOA yarns and fabrics. It would also let importers seek refunds, through liquidation or reliquidation, of duties paid on qualifying African goods entered between September 30, 2025 (when the prior authorization lapsed) and the bill's enactment, provided a request is filed with Customs and Border Protection within 180 days of enactment. Separately, it would extend customs user fees and merchandise processing fees through December 31, 2031. The bill does not add new beneficiary countries, change eligibility criteria, or alter the underlying tariff-preference structure; it only extends existing statutory deadlines and provides a retroactive remedy for the recent lapse.
Key provisions
- 1Would extend duty-free treatment for beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under the Trade Act of 1974 and AGOA through December 31, 2028
- 2Would extend AGOA's duty-free apparel article program and expand the regional apparel program window from 21 to 24 succeeding one-year periods
- 3Would extend the third-country fabric program allowing lesser-developed AGOA countries to use non-AGOA yarns and fabrics through December 31, 2028
- 4Would allow retroactive liquidation or reliquidation of duties on qualifying African imports entered between September 30, 2025, and enactment, with refund requests filed within 180 days of enactment
- 5Would require Customs and Border Protection to pay any amounts owed within 90 days of liquidation or reliquidation, without interest
- 6Would extend customs user fees and merchandise processing fees through December 31, 2031
Who would be affected
U.S. importers of goods from the 32 AGOA-eligible sub-Saharan African countries, African exporters and apparel manufacturers relying on duty-free access, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and businesses that pay customs merchandise processing and user fees.
Why it matters
Without the extension, AGOA preferences and related fee authorities would lapse, disrupting duty-free trade flows and refund eligibility for importers who paid tariffs during the gap. The retroactive refund provision gives importers and exporters a concrete path to recover duties paid since the program's expiration, while the fee extension avoids a funding gap for customs operations.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Reauthorizes Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2466b) (Sec. 2(a)(1))
Extends the sub-Saharan Africa duty-free preference deadline from September 30, 2025 to December 31, 2028
Reauthorizes African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(g)) (Sec. 2(a)(2)(A))
Extends AGOA's general duty-free treatment authority from September 30, 2025 to December 31, 2028
Amends African Growth and Opportunity Act regional apparel program (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(3)(A)) (Sec. 2(a)(2)(B))
Extends the program period from 21 to 24 succeeding one-year periods and moves the deadline to December 31, 2028
Reauthorizes African Growth and Opportunity Act third-country fabric program (19 U.S.C. 3721(c)(1)) (Sec. 2(a)(2)(C))
Extends the third-country fabric duty-free provision from September 30, 2025 to December 31, 2028
Reauthorizes Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)) (Sec. 3(a))
Extends customs user fee authority from September 30, 2031 to December 31, 2031
Reauthorizes United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3805 note) (Sec. 3(b))
Extends the merchandise processing fee rate authority from September 30, 2031 to December 31, 2031
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- AGOA and Generalized System of Preferences duty-free treatment extension
- Deadline to file retroactive duty refund requests with Customs and Border Protection
- CBP payment of amounts owed after liquidation or reliquidation of refunded entries
- Customs user fees and merchandise processing fees extension
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates the AGOA Extension Act would reduce the deficit by $522 million over the 2026–2035 period, reflecting $578 million in reduced revenues offset by $1.1 billion in reduced direct spending.
CBO estimates H.R. 6500 would reduce direct spending by $1.1 billion over the 2026–2035 period, primarily because it extends the authority to collect customs user fees through December 31, 2031, which are treated as mandatory offsetting collections (reductions in direct spending). At the same time, extending and amending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) — which provides reduced or duty-free access to the U.S. market for eligible sub-Saharan African countries — would reduce revenues by $578 million over the same period, including $73 million in refunds for higher duties paid after the program expired on September 30, 2025. The net effect is a $522 million decrease in the deficit over 2026–2035, though the bill would increase the deficit by $578 million over the first five years (2026–2030) before the customs fee savings materialize in 2032. CBO identified a private-sector mandate exceeding the UMRA statutory threshold, as entities required to pay customs user fees would remit an estimated $1.1 billion during the three-month extension in 2031; no intergovernmental mandates were identified.
How implementation would work
Customs and Border Protection would process refund requests for duties paid on qualifying entries made between September 30, 2025, and enactment, requiring importers to file within 180 days with information sufficient to locate or reconstruct the entry. CBP would then liquidate or reliquidate the entry as though it occurred on the enactment date and pay any amount owed within 90 days, without interest. The extensions of AGOA preferences and customs fees take effect by statutory amendment, requiring no new rulemaking beyond CBP's existing administration of these programs.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 320.
Official CRS summary
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This bill extends through December 31, 2028, trade preferences that provide duty-free access to the U.S. market for most exports from eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The bill also extends through December 31, 2031, customs user fees and merchandise processing fees.
Specifically, the bill extends through 2028 the duty-free treatment of the products of beneficiary SSA countries under the Trade Act of 1974 (specifically, the Generalized System of Preferences) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). (Currently, there are 32 countries eligible for AGOA.)
Additionally, the extended period applies to the following provisions of AGOA: (1) the duty-free treatment of certain apparel articles from beneficiary SSA countries; and (2) the third-country fabric provision, which allows limited amounts of apparel articles from lesser developed beneficiary SSA countries to qualify for duty-free treatment, even if the yarns and fabrics used in their production are imported from non-AGOA countries (e.g., apparel assembled in Kenya with Chinese fabrics).
The bill also provides for the refund of duties (i.e., liquidation or reliquidation of entries) on articles from eligible SSA countries that entered into the United States after September 30, 2025, and before the date of this bill's enactment. A refund request must be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and must contain sufficient information for CBP to locate the entry or, if the entry cannot be located, reconstruct the entry. CBP must refund any duties previously paid with respect to the entry within 90 days.
Legislative subjects
Africa; Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits; Customs enforcement; Foreign Trade and International Finance; Normal trade relations, most-favored-nation treatment; User charges and fees
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-416