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theboardiQ Tariffs Dashboard:
Powering Mutually Beneficial Global Trade.
Understand the complexities of international tariffs and ease of doing business across nations to cultivate balanced trade relationships, streamline operations, and deliver cost savings to end consumers.
Implications
The current trade landscape between the U.S. and Malawi is significantly impacted by two major, and somewhat conflicting, developments in U.S. trade policy in 2025: the expiration of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the implementation of new "reciprocal" tariffs.
Here is the updated status regarding U.S. tariffs, deals, and impact on Malawi as of October 2025:
US Tariffs Update - Malawi
Area | Status (October 2025) | Key Details |
AGOA Status | Expired (September 30, 2025) | The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provided duty-free access for many Malawian exports, officially expired. Malawi, though an eligible country, now loses these preferential zero-tariff benefits. |
New US Reciprocal Tariff | 15% (Implemented) | Malawi, which did not secure a specific trade deal with the U.S. to avoid the measure, is currently subject to a 15% reciprocal tariff on a broad range of its exports to the U.S. (effective August 7, 2025). |
Overall Tariff Impact | Significant Increase | The new 15% tariff, replacing the previous 0% AGOA rate for key goods, represents a major increase in cost for Malawian exporters, immediately reducing their competitiveness in the U.S. market. |
Deals and Agreements
No Specific Bilateral Deal: Malawi has not reached a specific bilateral trade deal or agreement with the U.S. to reduce or eliminate the new reciprocal tariffs, unlike some other U.S. trading partners.
AGOA Expiration: The core US-Africa trade framework, AGOA, has expired. While there is reported bipartisan support for a potential renewal or extension in the U.S. Congress, no formal legislation was passed before the September 30, 2025 deadline. The lack of an extension means Malawian goods no longer have automatic duty-free access.
Malawi's Investment Climate: The Malawian government has recently enacted new legislation, such as the Investment and Export Promotion Act of 2024, to attract and protect foreign investment, though amendments to land laws may affect foreign ownership of land-based enterprises.
Companies and Economic Impact
The combination of the expired AGOA and the new 15% reciprocal tariff poses a significant challenge to Malawian companies that export to the U.S.
Sector | Impact | Details |
Agricultural Exporters | Increased Costs & Reduced Competitiveness | The tariffs directly target the country's primary exports, which include raw tobacco, tea, and nuts. These sectors now face a 15% price increase for U.S. buyers. |
Textile and Apparel | Loss of Key Market Access | This sector was one of the major beneficiaries of the AGOA program's special provisions, often using foreign fabrics and exporting finished garments duty-free. The loss of AGOA benefits, coupled with the new tariffs, severely threatens this industry and related jobs. |
General Economy | Threat to Foreign Exchange | The overall economic impact is projected to be negative. The new tariffs threaten a key source of foreign exchange for the Malawian economy, alongside reported significant reductions in U.S. foreign assistance. |
US Revised Tariffs
Country Tariffs
Balance of Trade
Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in countries, prepared by U.S. Embassies worldwide, Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
Tariff Rate for US
World Bank staff estimates using the World Integrated Trade Solution system, based on tariff data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's Trade Analysis and Information System ( TRAINS ) database and global imports data from the United Nations Statistics Division's Comtrade database.
US Imports Guide
United States Imports from Countries during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. United States Imports from Countries- data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on April of 2025.
Investing in USA
theboardiQ Economic Relevance Score, ranks States of USA based on 11 parameters
Sources : Forbes | USDA Economic Research | TCGen Total Innovation Rank Index | Best States for Manufacturing | World Population Review | Tax Foundation | US News | BEA Data | Wikipedia | International Trade Administration
theboardiQ's Economic Relevance Score provides a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of a nation's economic vitality and global significance. This score is meticulously calculated using 11 key parameters, each reflecting a critical facet of economic performance. It analyzes the representation of Fortune 500 companies within a nation, a strong indicator of its business environment and market size. The balance of trade surplus or deficit reveals the nation's international competitiveness and export strength. It incorporates Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a fundamental measure of overall economic output, and examine the health of key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. The score also accounts for innovation, gauging a nation's ability to drive future growth through technological advancements. Crucial labor market indicators such as employment rates are considered, alongside fiscal policies reflected in tax rates. To capture the lived experience of citizens, it assesses cost of living and disposable income, providing insight into purchasing power and economic well-being. Finally, education levels are integrated, recognizing their pivotal role in fostering a skilled workforce and driving long-term economic development. By synthesizing these 11 parameters, theboardiQ's Economic Relevance Score delivers a nuanced and holistic view of a nation's economic standing, enabling informed strategic decisions. The Top 5 States in the assessment are Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Washington. Texas does consistently well across most of the 11 variables especially in the areas of GDP, F500 representation in the State, Balance of Trade where it ranks 2nd nationally. North Carolina scores as the highest-ranking state nationally in manufacturing and performs consistently across the other variables. Virginia does well in disposable income where it ranks 3rd nationally. It also scores high in the variables of manufacturing and employment Florida holds the 4th ranking nationally for GDP and Tax Washington State scores the top spot for disposable income nationally, 2nd for education and 3rd for innovation. Colorado, with an overall rank of 7 scores the top spot for Education (schools and higher education). Nebraska, that ranked 10th overall, did well in Agriculture where it is ranked 3rd nationally as well as Trade Balance where it ranked 5th. Illinois, though ranked 20th overall did well nationally in F500 representation, GDP, Agriculture, and Disposable Income. Pennsylvania comes in at 21 overall doing well nationally in GDP (6th); Manufacturing (8th) and F500 representation (8th) New York scores 23rd overall with a 2 ranking in Disposable Income nationally, as well as 3rd in both F500 representation and GDP. California comes in at 29th overall and has the top spot ranking in a whopping 4 variables nationally – GDP, Innovation, Agriculture and F500 representation. However, performance in the areas of Trade Balance, Cost of Living, Tax, Manufacturing and Employment resulted in the overall ranking dipping. Wyoming at 30th overall scores the top spot nationally in the area of Tax Massachusetts at 31 overall does well in innovation where it is ranked 2nd nationally Arkansas at 36 and Alabama at 39, do well in overall Cost of Living where they are ranked 2nd and 3rd nationally, respectively. Louisiana ranked 44th overall is ranked 1st in Trade Balance nationally.
Economic
Relevance
Ranking
State | Info | Overall Rank | Agri | Innov | Mfg | Employ | Tax | Edu | GDP | F500 Rep | Trade Balance | Cost of Living | Disp Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Texas | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 42 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 13 | |
North Carolina | 2 | 9 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 41 | 17 | 17 | |
Virginia | 3 | 32 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 34 | 35 | 3 | |
Florida | 4 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 30 | 37 | |
Washington | 5 | 16 | 3 | 36 | 28 | 45 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 9 | 43 | 1 | |
Missouri | 6 | 11 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 13 | 32 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 10 | 20 | |
Georgia | 7 | 15 | 26 | 9 | 3 | 26 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 43 | 26 | 19 | |
Minnesota | 8 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 6 | 44 | 8 | 20 | 10 | 33 | 33 | 9 | |
Ohio | 9 | 12 | 32 | 7 | 30 | 35 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 15 | 11 | |
Illinois | 10 | 5 | 23 | 31 | 23 | 37 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 32 | 7 |