With Washington’s signature African trade pact set to expire again on Dec. 31—less than a year after lawmakers saved it from the brink—the apparel industry is urging Congress to ditch short‑term renewals in favor of a multiyear extension that will give suppliers, buyers and investors the confidence to plan ahead and keep already-fraying supply chains from unraveling further.

Responding to the U.S. Trade Representative’s request for public comment, the American Apparel & Footwear Association credited the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, with transforming Africa into a viable sourcing partner, boosting American textile exports and encouraging supply chain diversification away from China, where piling costs, political risks and forced labor concerns have made sourcing increasingly fraught.

But that momentum will stall without a much longer-term commitment of at least 15 years, the trade group said. Anything less, it added, would undermine U.S. commercial leadership in Africa and allow China and other economic rivals to broaden their influence in the region.

“Africa’s ability to serve as a long-term sourcing alternative to China is deeply challenged as long as AGOA remains on sporadic footing,” wrote Beth Hughes, vice president of trade and customs policy at the AAFA, whose 1,100 members include brands such as Gap Inc., J.Crew Group and H&M Group. “Until long-term capabilities, such as the development of a vertical textile industry and more reliable logistics infrastructure, are established, most African sourcing partners will remain heavily reliant on the strength of AGOA to compete.”

Equally crucial is preserving the trade agreement’s critical third-country fabric provision, which allows manufacturers in less-developed African countries to use yarns and fabrics sourced from anywhere in the world and still export finished products to the U.S. duty-free.

“When AGOA was originally created, there was considerable debate over the third-country fabric provision,” Hughes said. “Eventually, the provision was retained but was subjected to a series of quotas and other devices to limit the potential for damage to the U.S. textile industry. These limitations succeeded in preventing broad harm to the U.S. textile industry; in most years the quotas were less than half filled and at no point did the quota exceed a 75 percent utilization rate.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also contended that short-term renewals create uncertainty and discourage supply chain investment. In its comments, the nation’s largest business lobby said the trade pact has helped shift U.S.-African relations from traditional aid dependence toward market-based economic growth. With the looming deadline disrupting trade trends “well in advance of the program’s actual termination,” the chamber warned that the impact is already taking a toll.

“Supply chains require predictability across lead times, compliance, logistics, scale and vendor capability. A multiyear (e.g., a 15-year) AGOA extension is essential for the program to achieve its intended goals of bolstering investment and supply chain resilience,” it said. “Depending on the sector, some companies note that it takes seven to 10 years to establish and build out supply chains and begin to recoup investments. Its reauthorization should take these timeline realities into account to deliver intended benefits.”

In its own comments calling for a minimum 15-year extension, the United States Fashion Industry Association hailed AGOA as an “undoubted success” for maintaining stable retail prices for American consumers by reducing landed costs and “de-risking” supply chains by lowering dependence on any one region, including China. But the trade group also warned that AGOA’s existing “graduation” provision—once a step toward a more “mature, mutually beneficial” trade relationship—currently penalizes developing African nations because the United States is no longer negotiating free trade agreements meant to replace those benefits.

“AGOA’s graduation provision could be amended in a variety of ways,” said Julia K. Hughes, USFIA’s president. “Congress could eliminate the graduation mechanism altogether; Congress could amend the provision so as to not graduate a country unless it has had a reasonable opportunity to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the U.S.; Congress could give the president the authority to decide whether or not a country should graduate; or Congress could amend the provision so that a country would not graduate unless it exceeded the income cutoff for five consecutive years.”

The National Retail Federation, while also pressing Congress for a 15-year commitment, said AGOA benefits are only commercially meaningful if suppliers can meet U.S. standards, move goods reliably and scale efficiently. The biggest hurdles facing African suppliers, the trade group argued, aren’t so much tariffs but rather poor local infrastructure, complex regulations, lack of funding and shipping bottlenecks. 

David French, the organization’s executive vice president of government relations, wrote that a “modernized” AGOA must be paired with U.S. technical assistance to improve export readiness and promote two-way trade by helping suppliers navigate U.S. product safety, traceability, labeling, labor and customs rules. A stronger deal must invest in workforce development so African factories can compete globally, while encouraging public-private partnerships that turn trade access into feasible commercial relationships, he said.

In its own standalone filing—the only fashion brand to do so—Levi Strauss & Co., a member of the AAFA, NRF and USFIA, said it relies on AGOA to “provide American families with the high-quality, affordable clothing they expect from us.”

Like the AAFA, Michael Zetts, the company’s head of global policy and advocacy, singled out the third-country fabric provision by calling the mechanism “as critical as the duty-free benefit” itself. While yarn and fabric production capabilities are growing on the continent, capacity still falls short of demand, he said, noting that the denim maker sources apparel from Lesotho and Tanzania under AGOA using a mix of domestic and third-country fabrics.

The trade pact’s benefits extend beyond Africa’s borders, Zetts said.

“AGOA’s apparel incentives not only encourage greater investment in Sub-Saharan Africa but also support retail, distribution and logistics jobs in the U.S.—as well as advance our commitment to offer quality, affordable clothes to American consumers,” he wrote. “Modernizing AGOA and renewing the program for the longest possible period would provide the necessary certainty and stability for companies like ours to continue to make significant investments and purchasing commitments.”

But while U.S. businesses presented a unified front to protect their investments, organized labor brought a different set of priorities to the table. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest federation of labor unions, said, for instance, that any modernization of AGOA must drive enforcement of “internationally recognized” workers’ rights and labor standards across Africa.

Given the region’s challenging labor-rights landscape, it said AGOA must include a strong monitoring and enforcement regime that incentivizes compliance and progress, such as a factory-level “rapid-response” labor enforcement mechanism—similar to the one used in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement—to penalize bad actors without stripping a country of its entire trade access.

The union’s concerns also hit home. It said that expanding trade preferences without supporting displaced workers in the United States through retraining for new job opportunities, such as via the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, would deepen trade imbalances and leave American workers behind.

Another AFL-CIO request: improved union engagement, especially during the annual reviews required under the agreement to evaluate country compliance. 

“While AGOA has established channels for input from employers and corporations, organized labor is rarely consulted in key decisions regarding implementation and compliance,” it said. “African trade unions must be consulted in the development of AGOA country strategies, and the trade and investment capacity-building hubs that support them, to ensure that investment related to the program generates good jobs.”

AAFA’s Beth Hughes echoed the need for more coordinated labor engagement.

“The impact of AGOA can also be amplified through coordinated support from relevant U.S. government programs, including the Bureau of International Labor Affairs within the Department of Labor, to strengthen labor standards, workforce development and responsible sourcing, leveling the playing field for American workers, alongside broader efforts to improve infrastructure, trade facilitation, customs modernization and investment conditions in AGOA beneficiary countries,” she said.