Top democrats on Senate and House committees urge Administration to upgrade Kenya trade talks to a comprehensive trade agreement
Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal, D-Mass., called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to transition current trade discussions with Kenya into negotiations of a comprehensive, enforceable trade agreement, in a letter today.
Although the Biden administration is in discussions for a U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP), negotiating a full trade agreement would offer more opportunities to improve protections for labor and the environment and open the Kenyan market for U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and small businesses, Wyden and Neal wrote. The U.S. has already largely opened its market to Kenyan products through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
“A U.S.-Kenya FTA, with strong and innovative rules and enforcement mechanisms, would enhance U.S. competitiveness in Kenya and encourage the Kenyan government to make high-standard commitments and reforms in critical areas, including raising and enforcing labor standards in Kenya’s informal economy and safeguarding the environment from degradation,” Wyden and Neal wrote. “An enforceable and comprehensive trade agreement with Kenya will help to create a standard for engagement with African nations moving forward.”
Wyden and Neal support the Biden administration’s goals and efforts to strengthen ties with Kenya, including renewing AGOA. But they urged Ambassador Tai to upgrade current talks to a more durable agreement.
“Trade agreements, when done right, can be a powerful driver for good-paying, quality jobs that open new markets and create more customers for American small businesses, manufacturers, farmers, and service providers, while raising the bar on human rights, labor standards, and environmental protections around the world and leveling the playing field for American workers,” they wrote.
Read the full letter to Ambassador Tai at the link above.
Follow developments on the US-Kenya STIP here
Read related news articles
US and Kenya invite public participation in stakeholder listening session during 6th negotiating round under the STIP
The United States and Kenya will hold a virtual stakeholder listening session during the sixth round of negotiations under the United States-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) on Friday, June 7 at 9:00AM East Africa Time (EAT). The session will be co-chaired by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Constance Hamilton and Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Trade Alfred K’Ombudo. The sixth round of negotiations are taking...
03 June 2024
United States and Kenya to hold sixth negotiating round under the STIP early June
The United States and Kenya will hold a sixth in-person negotiating round under the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in Mombasa, Kenya, from June 3-7. The United States delegation will be led by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Constance Hamilton and will include representatives from several other U.S. government agencies. The Kenyan delegation will be led by Principal Secretary for Trade Alfred...
27 May 2024
Ruto's State visit spotlights Kenya's centrality to Africa-US relations [Download Facsheet]
President Joe Biden's choice of Kenya for a first African state visit in more than 15 years is no coincidence, but both countries must be clear on what is driving this increasing strategic dependence. Kenyan President William Ruto's arrival in Washington on 22 May ends a historic drought. No African leader has made a state visit to the US since John Kufuor of Ghana in 2008 - three times longer than the previous record gap, but a period that...
23 May 2024
Senator Coons talks US and sub-Saharan African countries partnership amid Kenyan President’s visit
In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) discussed Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to the United States this week and the need for Congress to advance a reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in an interview with Devex yesterday. A major area of interest for President Ruto is the trade relationship between the United States and Kenya, and his visit is expected to lend support to the...
22 May 2024
Kenya-US trade talks inching closer to completion – Cabinet Sec Miano
Kenya and the US are inching closer to reaching a trade deal, Investments, Trade and Industry CS Rebecca Miano has hinted, meaning a pact could be in place by end of this year. This, even as the US expresses confidence that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), set to expire next year, will be renewed to allow Sub-Sharan nations continue to enjoy preferential export terms to the US market. The in-person talks between Kenya and US...
25 April 2024
USTR releases summaries from US – Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations
Consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to the highest levels of transparency in trade agreement negotiations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released summaries of texts proposed by the U.S. side on good regulatory practices, workers’ rights and protections, and a second tranche of agriculture text. Negotiations on these texts are ongoing. USTR will negotiate the workers’...
08 April 2024
US-Kenya: Ruto’s US state visit needs to navigate America’s uncertain political future
President William Ruto will visit the United States on a State Visit in May during what is likely to be one of the most turbulent US elections in memory. Barring some miracle, or catastrophe, the US presidential election will be a showdown between the same two contenders—albeit older and less energetic—as in 2020. The US presidential election in November is the most significant geopolitical risk event of 2024. Its outcome could result in...
26 February 2024
US President Biden to welcome Kenyan President Ruto to the White House in May
President Joe Biden plans to welcome Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House in May, hosting a state visit after reneging on his promise to visit Africa last year. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that the visit set for May 23 will mark the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relations and "celebrate a partnership that is delivering for the people" of both countries while affirming "our strategic...
18 February 2024
US keen to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement system as trade talks resume [incl. Readout]
The US plans to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement systems in what is seen as a strategy to put in place sound structures ahead of the planned trade pact. This comes as talks on the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) resumed last week with a meeting in Nairobi. Kenya is pushing for the deal and renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which expires next year. Washington in a statement on Tuesday said the...
07 February 2024
US officials to fast-track talks on Kenya-US Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP)
US authorities will expedite negotiations on the Kenya-US Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) and consider extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond its expiry next year. Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi who spoke after a meeting with US Secretary for State Mr Tony Blinken said these initiatives will facilitate expanded duty and quota-free access...
02 February 2024