CITA, the federal Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, has set the new AGOA apparel cap at 1,690,799,016 square meters equivalent for the year beginning Oct. 1. That’s 7% of the aggregate square-meter equivalent of US apparel imports over the preceding 12 months, the formula AGOA uses each year.
US apparel buyers sourcing from Kenya, Lesotho or Madagascar under AGOA’s third-country fabric provision can now plan against the annual duty-free cap through Sept. 30, 2027. Ethiopia is not currently eligible for AGOA benefits.
A separate sub-limit of 845,399,508 square meters equivalent, exactly half the overall cap, applies to apparel imported under AGOA’s special rule for lesser-developed countries. Both limits reset every Oct. 1 and are calculated using the square-meter equivalents of apparel covered by the Harmonized System lines listed in the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. Apparel entered above either limit is subject to otherwise applicable tariffs.
The cap continues because Congress extended AGOA through Dec. 31, 2028. The Senate passed the extension 90-6 on Aug. 8 as part of H.R. 6500, a broader continuing appropriations and extensions bill. The House passed the measure in September, and President Trump signed it into law on Sept. 3. AGOA had lapsed at the end of September 2025 before Congress restored the program retroactively in February 2026. The extension also preserves the third-country fabric provision, allowing qualifying apparel assembled in eligible African countries to use yarn and fabric from outside Africa while retaining duty-free treatment.
Trade groups and industry representatives in the region have credited the extension with providing more certainty for apparel orders, investment and factory employment, including jobs held predominantly by women.
