•Kenya hopeful Biden will warm up to Africa and Kenya as an investment destination and trade partner.
•The trade talks which commenced in July last year had earlier been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with last November’s US elections putting things to hold. Kenya hopes to resume trade talks with the US after change of guard at the White House with President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
The country is optimistic of speedy resumption of negotiations, with hopes the Biden administration will warm up to Africa, and Kenya as an investment destination and trade partner.
The negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which commenced on July 8, last year, stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent US elections.
Talks later resumed with the first and second rounds concluded by last August but last November US elections saw negotiations put on hold to await the outcome.
Yesterday, President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated Kenya’s determination to conclude the ongoing negotiations and sign a Free Trade Agreement.
The President gave the assurance when he bade farewell to outgoing US Ambassador to Kenya, Kyle McCarter, who paid him a courtesy visit at State House, Nairobi.
“We appreciate what has been achieved through AGOA, but it is time we moved to much more closer trade arrangements that are mutually beneficial. We will not lose focus on concluding the FTA,” the President said.
Kenya’s Trade and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina is optimistic of a smooth continuity in the talks, as President Biden moves to name his cabinet and key administrators who will shape the US’s international relations.
“We expect to get into more rounds (of negotiations) as the new administration settles,” CS Maina said in Nairobi on Monday, during the signing of a pact between Kenya Airways and the horticultural industry, to boost exports.
The Kenyan government is keen to secure a free trade pact ahead of the lapse of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2025, which eliminates import tariffs on goods from eligible African nations.According to the CS, it could take up to two years to have a complete Free Trade Agreement with the US.The talks were initiated by the CS and the outgoing US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.In December, Biden picked House Ways and Means Committee trade lawyer Katherine Tai as the next US trade representative, subject to confirmation by the Senate.He is yet to appoint the commissioner of the US international trade commission, with the […]
