Inaugural Meeting of the U.S.-Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group

The United States and Kenya held the first meeting of the U.S.-Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group on April 3-8, 2019.

The Working Group, established by President Donald J. Trump and President Uhuru Kenyatta, will explore ways to deepen the trade and investment ties between the two countries and lay the groundwork for a stronger future trade relationship.

The delegations were led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Peter Munya, Cabinet Secretary for Trade and Industry, and included representatives from a wide range of U.S. and Kenyan government departments and agencies.

Under the Working Group, the United States and Kenya initially agreed to work together in the following areas:

• Maximize the remaining years of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA);
• Pursue exploratory talks on a future bilateral trade and investment framework;
• Strengthen commercial cooperation; and
• Develop short-term solutions to reduce barriers to trade and investment.

Both countries agreed to hold the next Working Group meeting in Nairobi in June 2019.

Background:

Trade between the two countries stands at about $1 billion a year. Over 70 percent ($466 million in 2018) of Kenya’s exports to the United States entered under AGOA. In 2018 the U.S. imported $392.5 million in apparel from Kenya, all of it under AGOA.