Addis Ababa – The African Union said on Monday that US tariffs imposed on countries across the continent threatened decades of “mutually beneficial trade and cooperation”.
AU Commission chairman Mahamoud Ali Youssouf expressed deep concern over the tariffs and urged the US government to reconsider, an AU spokesman said.
Youssouf “calls on the US to strengthen, rather than strain, the longstanding partnership rooted in shared values and mutual aspirations,” spokesman Nuur Mohamud Sheekh told AFP.
Some African countries have been hit harder by tariffs – ranging from 50 percent for the small African kingdom of Lesotho, a major textile exporter, to 30 percent and above for South Africa, Madagascar and Botswana.
About 30 sub-Saharan African countries benefit from duty-free access to the US market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an agreement whose future analysts see as under threat now.
Discours de S.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (@ymahmoudali), Président de la Commission de l’Union africaine lors de la commémoration du 31ème anniversaire du génocide contre les Tutsi.#Kwibuka31 #Rwanda #Agenda2063
Read @ https://t.co/0TFy2p3us4 pic.twitter.com/da7gfV3JjM
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) April 7, 2025
African countries have been scrambling to react, with some looking to rapidly mobilise diplomatic delegations to travel to Washington.
South Africa’s automotive sector, accounting for 22 percent of exports to the US and also benefiting under AGOA, will be among the hardest hit as separate tariffs on foreign-made cars have also came into effect.
Kenya, which faced a baseline tariff rate of 10 percent, said the new measures presented “both challenges and opportunities”, perhaps giving a competitive edge compared to other textile-exporting nations dealing with higher rates.
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Source: AFP
