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 effort to reauthorize AGOA. Senators Coons and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) introduced the AGOA reauthorization bill last month to renew and strengthen a key trade program with sub-Saharan African countries. The new legislation would extend the program by 16 years, pushing back the program’s expiration from 2025 to 2041.
Senator Coons has traveled to Kenya three times in the past year and recently returned from a trip to Cabo Verde, Zambia, Angola, Malawi, and Botswana.
Senator Coons is Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“What President Ruto asked when I last met with him in Kenya was that we move forward quickly on reauthorization” of AGOA, “the cornerstone of our trade investment relationship with Africa,” Coons told Devex. Coons has been to Kenya three times in the past year and regularly travels to the continent, including a recent trip to five AGOA partner countries.
“It’s an important bill. It’s probably the only market access, trade-related bill we’re going to get done in this Congress,” Coons said.
“I think it’s important that we continue to show strong bipartisan engagement and attention to Africa. It is the continent of this century. It is absolutely critical to global development, to security, to the clean energy transition,” Coons told Devex.
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
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),...
21 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
US apparel and footwear industry supports 16 year AGOA renewal
The American Apparel & Footwear Association applauds Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Senator James Risch (R-ID) for introducing the AGOA Renewal and Improvement Act of 2024.Currently set to expire in September 2025, AGOA is a pivotal trade preference program that provides duty-free access to the U.S. market, fostering economic growth and opportunity between the U.S. and eligible African countries. This program is the cornerstone of...
11 April 2024
US senators introduce bill to renew Africa trade pact through 2041 [Download copy]
A bipartisan group of senators will introduce a bill to renew the United States' trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa ahead of its expiration next year, an aide to one of the senators said on Thursday. [ Download it here and download a summary here] The bill was introduced by Senators Chris Coons, a Democrat, and James Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A cross-party group of...
11 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
Kenya: 4th AmCham business summit to advocate for enhanced partnership and investment In US-East Africa trade
The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa is set to be held on April 24–25, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya’s President William Ruto is confirmed as Chief Guest, leading a government delegation to the summit that aims to expand commercial opportunities and markets....
19 March 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