Relieved from the stiff competition it would have faced after Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) implementation, the Ministry of Trade at Kenya has welcomed the move by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the pact saying the TPP would have hit hard the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) through which Kenya exports to USA duty-free.
Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said, “The withdrawal of this trade deal by Trump is good news for Kenya, especially for the country’s textile sector. If the Trump administration would have moved on with implementation of TPP, then goods from Kenya heading to US under the AGOA treaty would have been affected significantly as a result of competition from other nations. Its withdrawal gives us a sigh of relief,” adding, “Vietnam is a big producer of textile and this would have made it difficult for us to compete with them if they get duty and quota free access to the US market. Our cost of production is high compared to Vietnam and this would have made our goods uncompetitive in the market.”
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It may be mentioned here that textile and apparel account for about 80 per cent of Kenya’s total exports and US was positioned third in the first 10 months of last year as the country’s export destination.
