His Excellency
Uhuru Kenyatta,
the president of the Republic of Kenya, spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the afternoon of February 6, 2020. He arrived at the Chamber fresh from a meeting with President Trump, a meeting at which the two leaders announced their intention to pursue a free trade agreement between the Kenya and the United States. Here is a bit more of what President Kenyatta said about the plan to negotiate an FTA with the U.S.:
After my meeting this afternoon with President Trump, we did agree that the office of the United States Trade Representative as well as our Cabinet Secretary responsible for trade, both these two offices were mandated to reflect and present the best framework for a future Kenya-US trade and investment relationship. And there was a very clear tone of urgency for these two offices to move with speed to bring this to a conclusion.
We have had a trade and investment working group that has been working to deliver that pillar of economic prosperity. And today, I want to assure all of you of Kenya’s unwavering commitment on developing the strongest ever trade and investment framework with the United States. We are very keenly looking forward to concluding trade arrangements between our two countries. And I believe that these – this envisioned trade agreement and arrangement – will not only serve Kenya and the United States but will probably set the base for a new engagement between the United States and other African countries.
That was five months ago. The negotiations that Presidents Trump and Kenyatta “mandated” were formally launched on July 8 by the trade ministers for the two countries: U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer
for the United States and the Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade, and Enterprise Development
Betty Maina
for Kenya.
This is not the place for a full discussion of either the background the potential of these negotiations. Still, a few dates might be helpful.
December 12, 1963
– Under the leadership of then-Prime Minister (later) President J
omo Kenyatta
, Kenya formally gains its independence from the United Kingdom. (And, yes, Uhuru Kenyatta is Jomo Kenyatta's son.)
May 18, 2000
– President
Bill Clinton
signs the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) into law. Under its provisions, certain goods – including textiles and apparel-- from eligible sub-Saharan African countries enjoy duty-free and quota-free access to the United States. Kenya has been an AGOA beneficiary from the beginning. But AGOA is going away. Although it has been renewed several times, most recently in 2015, there is no plan to extend it again, and so, in 2025, it will expire.
January 2010
– The East African Customs Union enters into force. Also in 2010, the East African Common Market comes into effect. Both are expressions of the East African Community, which originally included Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. It now also includes South Sudan, which joined in 2016.
October 16, 2014
– The European Union finalizes an Economic Partnership Agreement with the then five countries of the East African Community: (Our understanding is that this agreement has not yet entered into force as it has not yet been ratified by all of the members of the East African Community.)
January 21, 2020
– Meeting at 10 Downing Street, President Kenyatta and Prime Minister Boris Johnson agree to bilateral trade talks. The goal is to have an agreement by the end of this year, i.e., by December 31, 2020.
July 8, 2020
- Trade talks between the United States and the Republic of Kenya formally begin.
I
n 2025 – AGOA
is set to expire.
