HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When U.S. President Donald Trump met five African leaders in Washington this month, his lack of familiarity with the continent was on display. He praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s English — Liberia’s official language — and gestured at another leader to wrap up remarks.
But the bigger takeaway was Trump’s pledge to transform U.S.-Africa relations: a shift from aid to trade, even as the region reels from his steep tariffs and sweeping aid cuts.
African leaders offered minerals from manganese to uranium and possibly lithium. Senegal’s president even sought to leverage Trump’s love of golf by inviting him to build a course. Yet many nations are anxious about Washington’s new path.
Here's a look at Trump's new ‘trade not aid’ policy toward African nations:
After slashing billions in foreign aid, including shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development — which provided over $12 billion in humanitarian assistance in 2024 alone — the Trump administration says it is forging a new approach: “commercial diplomacy.” Trade, not aid, is the order of the day.
“It is now truly our policy for Africa,” said Troy Fitrell, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, when announcing the strategy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in May. Ambassadors will now be judged not by aid projects but on “how well they support” local businesses and “how effectively they advocate for U.S. business and the number of deals they facilitate,” he said.
Africa accounts for less than 1% of U.S. goods trade, but Fitrell called it “the world’s largest untapped market,” projecting its purchasing power could surpass $16 trillion by 2050.
Washington touts quick progress: 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump’s first 100 days, plus $2.5 billion in commitments at a U.S.-Africa business summit in June. Projects span grain storage and digital infrastructure in Angola, energy ventures in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Congo, and tourism in Ethiopia.
Still, many worry about the costs. Job losses and economic pain from tariffs are mounting even as Washington celebrates these wins.
Trump did not invent the idea of trade over aid. African leaders have pushed for this since the 1970s. The problem, critics say, is the caveat of tariffs and uncertainty over the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the U.S. flagship program for trade with the continent.
“In reality, these tariffs are not about trade balances. It’s economic warfare,” said the Alternative Information and Development Centre, a South African NGO.
Trump has imposed a 30% tariff on selected South African goods and threatens another 10% for nations aligned with the BRICS bloc of developing economies. South Africa’s Automotive Business Council says vehicle exports to the U.S. have plunged over 80%, warning that tariffs “strike at the heart of South Africa’s industrialization agenda.” More than 100,000 jobs, mostly in auto and agriculture, are at risk, the council says.
Smaller nations are also reeling. Lesotho declared a state of disaster after being hit with 50% duties — the second-highest rate after China — before Trump announced a 90-day pause. About 12,000 textile jobs in Lesotho hang in the balance, according to its Minister of Trade, Industry, and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile. From vanilla farmers in Madagascar to cocoa growers in Ivory Coast and oil exporters in Nigeria, tariffs have shaken economies and raised doubts about Washington’s intent.
“The U.S. certainly can’t have it both ways,” said Brendon Verster, an economist at Oxford Economics Africa. “The ‘aid to trade’ stance risks leaving Africa behind once the U.S. has gotten what it wanted, which will probably be critical minerals."
AGOA, enacted in 2000 and renewed in 2015, allows duty-free U.S. access for nearly 2,000 goods from 32 African nations. It expires in September, with no clear sign that it will be renewed.
South Africa’s trade minister warned it will be “very difficult” to keep AGOA under current conditions. Fitrell said he is a “big fan” of the deal but told African leaders they must do more to lobby Congress. Future arrangements may require “much greater attention toward some form of reciprocity” to reflect Trump’s push for U.S. economic interests, he said.
Meanwhile, China is leveraging zero-tariff policies to expand its influence. In June, China — already Africa’s biggest trading partner — said it plans to grant duty-free market access to 53 African nations. Still, Verster said some African nations might be cautious about strengthening ties with China, for fear of triggering retaliation from the U.S.
“Aligning with China … could possibly bring about more economic punishment from the U.S.," he said.
This story has been corrected to show that the U.S. Agency for International Development provided over $12 billion in humanitarian assistance in 2024, not 2025.
FILE -A factory worker arranges garments at United Aryan EPZ Limited in Ruaraka on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku, File)
President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders including Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Bissau-Guinean President Umaro Sissoco EmbalÛ, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani and Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.
Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.
Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.
“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.
About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.
Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.
The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.
Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.
In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.
“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.
Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.
The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.
Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.
"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.
There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.
The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."
Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.
Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.
Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
