{"id":8042,"date":"2020-10-05T08:44:11","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T13:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cf.iisd.net\/itn\/?p=8042"},"modified":"2024-08-09T18:31:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T16:31:14","slug":"u-s-kenya-fta-negotiations-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/2020\/10\/05\/u-s-kenya-fta-negotiations-underway\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S.\u2013Kenya FTA negotiations underway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. and Kenya <a href=\"https:\/\/ustr.gov\/about-us\/policy-offices\/press-office\/press-releases\/2020\/july\/joint-statement-between-united-states-and-kenya-launch-negotiations-towards-free-trade-agreement\">formally launched<\/a> negotiations on the US\u2013Kenya <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips70'>FTA<\/span> on July 8, 2020. If concluded, the agreement would be the first bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and a sub-Saharan African state. The FTA is being framed by the parties as a \u201cmodel\u201d agreement for the region, fulfilling a goal of the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/cf.iisd.net\/itn\/2018\/07\/30\/united-states-trade-representative-outlines-plan-to-negotiate-model-free-trade-agreement-with-sub-saharan-african-country\/\">articulated<\/a> by USTR Lighthizer in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/ustr.gov\/about-us\/policy-offices\/press-office\/press-releases\/2020\/march\/trump-administration-notifies-congress-intent-negotiate-trade-agreement-kenya\">notified<\/a> Congress of its intention to begin negotiations with Kenya under the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in March 2020. The current TPA\u2014which sets specific negotiating priorities and allows for the fast-tracking of negotiations while requiring regular consultation with Congress\u2014expires in July 2021. This gives negotiators a relatively short timeline to conclude an agreement under the current TPA.<\/p>\n<p>Following a public consultation, the USTR released <a href=\"https:\/\/ustr.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/Summary_of_U.S.-Kenya_Negotiating_Objectives.pdf\">negotiating objectives<\/a> in May 2020. While the section on investment does not mention <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips43'>ISDS<\/span>, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finance.senate.gov\/hearings\/hearing-to-consider-the-nominations-of-michael-n-nemelka-of-utah-to-be-a-deputy-united-states-trade-representative-christian-n-weiler-of-louisiana-to-be-a-judge-of-the-united-states-tax-court-and-alina-i-marshall-of-virginia-to-be-a-judge-of-the-united-states-tax-court\">recent confirmation<\/a> hearing, incoming Deputy USTR Michael Nemelka did not rule out the possibility of its inclusion in an eventual FTA with Kenya.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the timeline imposed by the TPA, negotiations will likely be influenced by other current agreements of which Kenya is a part. One of these is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which sets preferential tariff rates for Kenyan imports to the U.S. With AGOA set to expire in 2025, Kenya may wish to use the FTA to secure this preferential treatment going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, negotiators will have to take into consideration Kenya\u2019s commitments under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/tag\/afcfta\/\">AfCFTA<\/a>, which will likely <a href=\"https:\/\/cf.iisd.net\/itn\/2020\/06\/20\/covid-19-pandemic-pushes-back-start-date-for-afcfta-entry-into-force\/\">take effect<\/a> in January 2021. African Union officials have expressed discontent with Kenya\u2019s decision to enter into bilateral negotiations with the U.S., arguing that this may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bilaterals.org\/?kenya-will-be-in-breach-of-eac\">jeopardize<\/a> the AfCFTA.<\/p>\n<p>While Kenya is not, in global terms, a major trading partner for the U.S., it is <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/IF\/IF11526\">Kenya&#8217;s second largest export market<\/a>, importing apparel, agricultural, and mining products, and trade volume has been increasing annually since the AGOA tariff regime went into effect.<!--more--><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips32','International Institute for Sustainable Development<!--more-->'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips33','Institut international du d\u00e9veloppement durable'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips34','Instituto Internacional para el Desarrollo Sostenible'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips43','investor\u2013state dispute settlement'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips58','soluci\u00f3n de controversias inversionista-Estado'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips60','Investment Treaty News'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips65','East African community'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips67','Energy Charter Treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips70','free trade agreement'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips76','multilateral investment court'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips100','investissement direct \u00e9tranger'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips106','asociaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica-privada'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips110','inversi\u00f3n extranjera directa'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips114','Sistema de Tribunales de Inversiones'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips116','European Commission'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips118','Union europ\u00e9enne'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips119','Uni\u00f3n Europea'); <\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. and Kenya formally launched negotiations on the US\u2013Kenya <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips70'>FTA<\/span> on July 8, 2020. If concluded, the agreement would be the first bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and a sub-Saharan African state.<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips70','free trade agreement'); <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[397],"tags":[1962,1911,1925,1963],"class_list":["post-8042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-afcfta","tag-africa","tag-investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds","tag-trade"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}