Featured Summary:
- New U.S.-China tariff terms cover agriculture, seafood and other traded goods
- Copper, oil, cocoa and agricultural goods remain central to Africa’s trade with China
- Washington is seeking wider African market access for U.S. farm and industrial goods
- African processing is becoming more important as global trade moves toward product-level deals
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping’s September meeting in Washington produced proposed tariff reductions on $30 billion of goods in each direction.
China would cut duties on selected U.S. agricultural products, seafood, wood products, cosmetics and medical devices, with corn, wheat, meat and dairy included but soybeans excluded. The U.S. proposal covers Chinese household appliances, toys and tableware.
Washington and Beijing are still negotiating when the tariff reductions would take effect, with the current trade truce running through January 10. An agricultural working group is also addressing barriers to farm trade.
China bought $96.93 billion of African goods in the first eight months of 2026, 19% more than a year earlier. Chinese exports to the continent reached $177 billion. Crude oil, copper and other minerals account for a large share of China’s purchases from African producers.
U.S. imports from Sub-Saharan Africa reached $18.64 billion through July, compared with $13.82 billion of exports to the region. Vehicles, apparel, metals, petroleum products and agricultural goods are among the products moving into the U.S. market.
African suppliers already sell commodities covered by trade negotiations in the world’s largest markets. Copper, crude oil and agricultural goods remain among the continent’s major exports, while processed products account for a smaller share of shipments.
China Is Buying More Than Minerals From African Suppliers
China’s agricultural approvals are bringing more African products into a trade relationship long dominated by commodities.
Kenya secured access for fresh avocados before adding other agricultural products, while Ethiopia has expanded coffee shipments and Tanzania sells sesame into the Chinese market.
South African growers have approvals covering several fruit categories, and West African cocoa producers are selling into a market where beans still outweigh butter, powder and finished chocolate in shipments from the region.
The terms changed again in May when China extended zero-tariff treatment across all tariff lines for African countries with diplomatic relations with Beijing.
The preference applies to goods that meet origin requirements, while food exports remain subject to separate Chinese health and safety protocols.
For agricultural producers, commercial access therefore depends on both tariff eligibility and approval for the individual product and country of origin.
African seafood, cotton, wood products and farm goods now sit among the products where access to Chinese buyers can be measured beyond minerals and energy.
The tariff preference removes one cost at the border, while shipment volumes show which exporters are building a larger presence in the market.
The larger change in Africa’s China trade is appearing in products that historically held a smaller share of the relationship.
Avocado, coffee, sesame, cocoa, fruit and seafood shipments provide the next measure of whether wider access is producing more trade outside the continent’s established commodity exports.
AGOA’s Next Phase Puts Two-Way U.S.-Africa Trade on the Table
Imports entering the United States under AGOA fell to $5.04 billion in 2025, almost 36% from the previous year.
Refined copper was the largest category, followed by apparel, passenger vehicles, crude oil and ferroalloys. South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Kenya and Madagascar were the leading suppliers.
Kenyan and Malagasy apparel enters the United States duty-free when it meets AGOA requirements, including provisions allowing qualifying producers to use fabric sourced from third countries.
Without the preference, duties on some clothing lines can reach 30%. South African exporters claim AGOA preferences on vehicles, metals and agricultural products as well as manufactured goods.
AGOA now runs through December 31, 2026, after a February extension restored duty-free treatment for eligible imports dating back to September 30, 2025.
USTR is seeking changes in the next arrangement that would expand access for American businesses, farmers and ranchers. U.S. officials have secured poultry access in Namibia and blueberry access in South Africa.
Angola withdrew a planned suspension of poultry import licences, and Nigeria stepped back from restrictions on imported syringes after talks with Washington.
Nigeria purchased 100,000 metric tons of U.S. hard red spring wheat in June for delivery during the 2026/27 marketing year.
U.S. sales to African markets also include machinery, aircraft and parts, vehicles, chemicals and agricultural products, with Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco among the larger destinations.
USTR’s 2026 trade-barrier review lists Nigerian import restrictions, licensing requirements and customs procedures affecting American goods.
U.S. officials have also challenged sanitary requirements, quotas and product-approval rules in African agricultural markets.
These remain U.S. negotiating objectives as Congress and the administration consider what follows the current AGOA authorization.
U.S. imports from Kenya reached $844.5 million through July, up from about $477.6 million in the first seven months of 2025.
Imports from Madagascar fell to $322.4 million from about $423 million. Apparel producers in both countries use AGOA provisions that allow qualifying shipments to enter without the duties charged under the ordinary U.S. tariff schedule.
Chinese and American Goods Are Competing for Africa’s Import Market
Africa’s merchandise imports rose 15% in the first quarter of 2026 after increasing 9% last year.
Vehicles and machinery were among the fastest-growing categories, while the continent imported almost four times as much manufactured merchandise as it exported in 2025.
Chinese exports to African markets include machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles, electronics and household goods.
Industrial equipment accounts for a substantial part of purchases in some markets, alongside finished consumer products.
Ghana imported $4.59 billion of Chinese goods in 2025, including $847.2 million of machinery, $727.7 million of iron and steel, $691.3 million of vehicles and $303.3 million of electrical equipment.
China supplied almost 40% of Ghana’s machinery imports, compared with just over 6% from the United States.
Ghana also bought $265.8 million of Chinese goods vehicles, $142.9 million of motorcycles and $95.9 million of tractors, compared with $89 million of passenger cars.
Commercial and agricultural vehicles therefore exceeded passenger-car purchases by a wide margin.
China’s lead in Ghanaian machinery does not extend uniformly across the goods African countries import from the United States.
American sales include aircraft, specialized industrial equipment, medical equipment and agricultural commodities, while direct competition with Chinese suppliers is stronger in machinery and some vehicle and equipment categories.
Africa’s Next Trade Test Is What Leaves the Continent
Primary goods accounted for 76.7% of Africa’s merchandise exports in 2025, including 29.5% from fuels.
Manufactured goods made up about 45% of intra-African trade but roughly 20% of exports to markets outside the continent.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia export refined copper alongside less-processed material, while production of copper wire, tubes and other fabricated products remains limited.
The DRC also supplied 74% of global cobalt mine output in 2025, with most refining capacity still concentrated in China.
A refinery planned for Lualaba is expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of copper cathodes and 5,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate a year, with production scheduled for late 2027.
Ghana directed beans remaining from the 2025/26 cocoa crop to domestic processors. New Cocoa Board legislation requires at least 50% of production to be processed locally from the 2026/27 season, and COCOBOD says existing factories can handle more than half of national output. Their production includes cocoa liquor, butter, cake and powder.
Ghana’s 50% requirement takes effect with the 2026/27 crop, before the planned Lualaba refinery begins production in late 2027.
Export volumes from the cocoa season and output from the refinery will provide the next figures on how much processing is taking place before these products leave Africa.
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