As US Tariffs Bite, African Countries Look East to China.

As trade tensions between the United States and key global partners escalate, tariff policies introduced under the Trump administration are reshaping Africa’s trade relationships, with China emerging as a consequential beneficiary.

USA President, Donald Trump.

In 2025, sweeping U.S. tariff increases on a broad range of imports, including levies of up to 50 percent on some African exports, have fundamentally altered historic patterns of trade between Africa and the United States. The tariffs, implemented as the United States moved away from longstanding preferences such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act, have disrupted the duty-free access that supported textile, apparel and manufactured exports from several African nations to the U.S. market.

For countries like Lesotho, where a significant share of garment exports depended on AGOA preferences, the introduction of tariffs has had serious implications. Higher export costs have undercut global competitiveness, triggering industrial contractions and rising unemployment in sectors previously buoyed by access to the American market.

At the same time, Africa’s trade with China has continued to accelerate. Official data and market reports show that China’s exports to Africa climbed sharply, with growth rates outpacing those to many traditional markets. Chinese firms have redirected shipments away from regions where tariff costs have risen, including the United States, toward African markets where political and economic barriers are comparatively lower.

In response, China has expanded preferential treatment for African goods. Discussions at recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation meetings resulted in tariff waivers for a broad range of products from multiple African countries, deepening economic ties with Beijing.

The net effect of these shifts is a reconfiguration of trade dynamics. Africa’s commercial engagement with the United States is contracting as tariffs bite, while China’s role as a trade partner and investor is expanding. Africa’s trade surplus with the United States has eroded and the continent’s export patterns are evolving accordingly.

For African policymakers and businesses, the changing landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. Reduced access to traditional markets and tariff barriers have underscored the need to diversify export destinations and strengthen intra-African trade under initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area. At the same time, deeper economic engagement with China, including in infrastructure, manufacturing and investment, presents an alternative axis of commercial partnership with implications for industrial policy, balance of payments and long-term growth strategies.

As the global trade environment continues to shift, Africa’s strategic positioning between major powers will increasingly shape the continent’s economic trajectory in the decade ahead.