Despite a shift in America’s international trade relations with Africa, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry for Investment, Trade and Industry Lee Kinyanjui has assured investors and players in the textile and apparel sector that Kenya is doing everything in its power to seek extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with the United States.     

In a keynote address at textile and apparel meeting at a Nairobi hotel on Thursday, Kinyanjui said the recent imposition of a 10 per cent import tariff by the United States on Kenyan goods has heightened the urgency of the situation.

He noted that the tariff, which targets products that previously enjoyed zero duty under AGOA, risked eroding the price competitiveness of Kenyan exports and undermining existing trade agreements. 

The current agreement, which provides duty-free access to the US market for Kenyan exports, is set to expire in September this year.

Kinyajui said to stem the crisis, the Kenyan government, along with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), is pushing for a renewal, aiming to maintain this preferential trade access and secure continued economic benefits.

AGOA is a US trade preference act that allows for duty-free export of over 6,000 products, was enacted on May 18, 2000, as Public Law 106 of the 200th Congress.

On June 29, 2015, former US President Barack Obama signed the AGOA Trade Preferences Extension Act into law, extending the AGOA legislation by a further 10 years to 2025.

As it stands at present there are fears President Donald Trump, who has been ruthless slapping taxes on trading partners, Africa included, may be averse to renewing the treaty.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Norah Bochere