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Summary Provided by Congressional Research Service
AGOA Extension Act
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 liquidation or reliquidation (i.e., refund of duties) 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 request for liquidation or reliquidation must be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the request 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.
Latest available text
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the "AGOA Extension Act".
2. Extension of preferential treatment for certain countries in Africa under African Growth and Opportunity Act; retroactive application
(a) Extension -
(1) Trade Act of 1974 - Section 506B of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2466b) is amended by striking "September 30, 2025" and inserting "December 31, 2028".
(2) African Growth and Opportunity Act -
(A) In general - Section 112(g) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(g)) is amended by striking "September 30, 2025" and inserting "December 31, 2028".
(B) Regional apparel article program - Section 112(b)(3)(A) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(b)(3)(A)) is amended—
(i) in clause (i), by striking "21 succeeding" and inserting "24 succeeding"; and
(ii) in clause (ii)(II), by striking "September 30, 2025" and inserting "December 31, 2028".
(C) Third-country fabric program - Section 112(c)(1) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3721(c)(1)) is amended—
(i) in the paragraph heading, by striking september 30, 2025 and inserting december 31, 2028;
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking "September 30, 2025" and inserting "December 31, 2028"; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking "September 30, 2025" and inserting "December 31, 2028".
(b) Retroactive application -
(1) In general - Notwithstanding section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) or any other provision of law, and subject to paragraph (2), any entry of a covered article to which duty-free treatment or other preferential treatment under section 506A of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2466a) would have applied if the entry had been made on September 30, 2025, that was made—
(A) after September 30, 2025, and
(B) before the date of the enactment of this Act,shall be liquidated or reliquidated as though such entry occurred on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Requests - A liquidation or reliquidation may be made under paragraph (1) with respect to an entry only if a request therefor is filed with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act that contains sufficient information to enable such Commissioner—
(A) to locate the entry; or
(B) to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be located.
(3) Payment of amounts owed - Any amounts owed by the United States pursuant to the liquidation or reliquidation of an entry of a covered article under paragraph (1) shall be paid, without interest of any kind, not later than 90 days after the date of the liquidation or reliquidation (as the case may be).
(4) Definitions - In this subsection:
(A) Covered article - The term "covered article" means an article from a country that is designated by the President as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under section 104 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3703) as of the day before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) Entry - The term "entry" includes a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption.
3. Extension of customs user fees
(a) In general - Section 13031(j)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking "September 30, 2031" and inserting "December 31, 2031"; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking "September 30, 2031" and inserting "December 31, 2031".
(b) Rate for merchandise processing fees - Section 503 of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3805 note) is amended by striking "September 30, 2031" and inserting "December 31, 2031".
Passed the House of Representatives January 12, 2026.Kevin F. McCumber,Clerk.