In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, the associations asked for the passage of both the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Extension Act (HR 6500) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Extension Act (HR 6504) under suspension.
“On behalf of the undersigned organisations — representing the full spectrum of the textile, apparel, footwear, and retail industries, as well as the broader business community — we urge the House to pass on suspension the retroactive reauthorisation of the key US trade preference programmes with sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti,” the associations stated in their letter.
The letter was signed by the AAFA, Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America, National Retail Federation, Outdoor Industry Association, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and the US Fashion Industry Association (USFIA).
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced both bills last month with broad bipartisan backing, according to the organisations.
The measures would restore AGOA and the Haiti HOPE/HELP programmes retroactively for three years.
Under draft legislation on the committee’s website, the AGOA Extension Act would set a new expiration date for AGOA as 31 December 2028.
It would also retroactively resolve tariff issues that have arisen since AGOA ended. AGOA, which was established in 2000, expired after 25 years on 30 September 2025.
In addition to AGOA, lawmakers are considering extensions for two Haitian trade preference programmes: the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act.
The HELP Extension Act of 2025 was introduced in February 2025.
If passed, it would continue special duty-free access for specific Haitian apparel imports until fiscal year 2035.
Industry representatives have indicated that these initiatives support exports of US cotton and textiles, offer alternatives to sourcing from China, and provide employment for around 3.6m workers in the US.
