The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is pressing Congress to take immediate action to renew two critical trade preference programs—the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Haiti HOPE/HELP Acts—before their scheduled expiration on September 30, 2025.
For over two decades, AGOA has provided duty-free access to eligible Sub-Saharan African countries, bolstering U.S. exports in textiles and agriculture while strengthening commercial ties between the United States and Africa. Similarly, the Haiti HOPE (Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement) Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act, in place for more than 15 years, have supported economic stability in Haiti by granting duty-free access for apparel and textile products, fostering mutually beneficial trade between the two nations.
AAFA Urges Renewal of Trade Programs
“These programs safeguard and support 3.6 million American workers while sustaining jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, all while opening markets to U.S. cotton and textile exports,” said Beth Hughes, AAFA’s Vice President of Trade and Customs Policy. “Renewing these programs is an urgent, cost-effective, and bipartisan solution. Let’s continue the decades-long tradition of overwhelming support for initiatives that strengthen growing regions abroad while preserving and enhancing American competitiveness at home.”
AAFA President and CEO Steve Lamar echoed the urgency, warning that allowing the programs to lapse would jeopardize U.S. influence in key regions. “The programs are not only good for American companies, American workers, and the U.S. economy, they ensure America remains influential in key regions of the world,” Lamar said. “Failing to renew them would mean ceding power and influence to others.”
AAFA has consistently advocated for renewal, with testimony before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on AGOA’s future in July and testimony before the International Trade Commission on Haiti HOPE/HELP earlier this year.
For more information on trade and customs updates, AAFA encourages stakeholders to visit its Fashion Tariffs 101 resource page.
