Kenya looks set to benefit after the US suspended duty-free access to Ethiopian exports following ongoing unrest in the country’s Tigray region.
The US move to ban Ethiopia opens a window for Kenyan textile and apparel firms to increase their exports to the US market of more than 6,000 product lines as US restrictions hit their Ethiopian rivals.
US authorities said Ethiopia had breached the eligibility requirements of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) because of “gross violations of internationally recognised human rights” a US official was quoted by reports saying.
Kenya’s total exports to the US under the Agoa plan peaked at Ksh46 billion ($412.5 million) in 2019, before declining eight percent to Ksh42.2 billion ($378.5 million) in 2020, according to the Economic Survey data.
On the other hand, Ethiopia exported about Sh26.3 billion worth of goods duty-free to the US under Agoa last year, US commerce department data shows.
More than 90 percent of the Ethiopian exports were textiles and apparel signaling the huge opportunity for Kenyan textile exporters. Kenyan officials yesterday remained mum on the implications of the US ban when sought for comment by Business Daily.
Source https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... ar-3606250