Lobby Wants Kenya-USA Trade Talks Halted for Lack of Consultations

The non-profit organisation Econews Africa (ENA) now wants the trade talks between the governments of Kenya and the United States to be suspended to allow for stakeholder participation.

According to ENA, the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) negotiations cannot continue unless pressing issues are resolved.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), whose deadline is 2025, will be preceded by STIP.

Since the implementation of AGOA in 2000, African commodities have been able to access the United States duty-free.

While American stakeholders have submitted their views to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for consideration, the country has yet to conduct one.

“We, Econews Africa and the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum do at this moment voice our strong opposition to the ongoing trade negotiations between Kenya and the United States for a Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) whose next round of the talks is set to happen in Nairobi from Monday 17th April 2023,” the firm’s Executive Director Edgar Odari said.

“We are particularly concerned that this is taking place while there have yet to be any stakeholder consultations to determine what should go into the final agreement and what should be kept out of the negotiations,” Odari added.

“We note with concern that American stakeholders have given extensive comments to the USTR, while the Kenyan negotiators have yet to make any attempt to consult widely before embarking on the negotiations.”