US Threatens 12.5% Tariffs on Eight African Economies

AFRICA · TRADE

Washington has proposed tariffs of up to 12.5% on goods from eight African economies, giving them only weeks to respond. The move puts US tariffs on Africa back at the centre of the trade relationship, with Egypt, South Africa and Morocco the most exposed.

What the US tariffs on Africa would hit

The US Trade Representative has proposed additional duties of up to 12.5% on imports from eight African countries. The list runs across the continent: Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa.

The heaviest exposure falls on manufactured and labour-intensive goods rather than raw commodities. Textiles, apparel and similar products would bear the brunt.

For now this is a proposal, not a final measure. It is open for public comment before Washington decides.

Why Washington says it is acting

The tariffs stem from a Section 301 investigation opened on March 11. It examined whether countries prohibit the import of goods produced with forced labour.

The probe was broad, covering the United States’ 60 largest trading partners, among them the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, China and India. The eight African economies are the continent’s slice of that wider review.

The stated aim is to press trading partners to match US rules on forced labour. The tariff is the lever.

The countries in the crosshairs

Egypt enters the process as the most exposed African economy. It ships about $2.6 billion in goods to the US each year, concentrated in textiles and apparel.

South Africa and Morocco follow, both with sizeable manufactured exports. Their carmakers, processors and factories have the most to lose.

Oil and gas from Nigeria and Angola would likely fall under an energy exemption. That spares their main exports, but leaves their other sectors uncovered.

A narrow off-ramp, and a tight clock

There is a way to soften the blow. Countries that commit to banning forced-labour imports before the hearings could face a lower 10% rate instead of 12.5%.

The timetable is short. Public comments close on July 6, with hearings the next day, on July 7.

Trade bodies have warned that most of the affected governments are not ready to respond in time. Building a credible forced-labour regime in weeks is a tall order.

Another strain on preferential access

For years, much of Africa’s trade with the US ran on preferential terms designed to encourage exports. A new layer of duties pulls in the opposite direction, adding to the strain on a framework already tested by the 10% baseline tariffs imposed in April 2025.

The shift adds to a broader hardening of US trade policy under the current administration, piling onto the 10% baseline tariffs imposed in April 2025. Africa is now caught in the same net as far larger partners, and our reporting has shown that African leaders have been weighing a continental bargaining strategy in response.

As always with tariffs, the details and the final rates can still change. The figures here describe a proposal in its comment phase, not a settled law.

Why it matters beyond the eight

For investors, the signal is what counts. Access to the US market, long treated as a given, now carries political conditions.

That pushes African exporters to court other buyers, from the Gulf to China to fellow members of the BRICS bloc. Each squeeze from one direction strengthens the case for diversifying trade.

It also tests whether the continent can bargain together rather than one capital at a time, a strategy African leaders have been weighing since the 2025 tariff shock, when the US imposed a 10% baseline tariff on nearly all African exports and hit South Africa with 31%. The next few weeks will show how much leverage it really has.

Jobs on the line

Behind the percentages sit factory jobs. Textile and apparel plants in countries like Egypt and Morocco employ large workforces that depend on selling to American buyers.

A higher tariff makes their goods dearer on US shelves than rivals from Asia. Orders can shift quickly when prices move, and so can employment.

That is why the threat lands hard even before any duty is collected. Buyers plan months ahead, and uncertainty alone can cool new contracts.

For governments, the pressure is to negotiate rather than retaliate. None of the eight is big enough to push back on Washington alone.

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