On Wednesday, Kenya made a prime trade turning point, after president William Ruto announced that China has consented to lift all tariffs on key agricultural exports such as coffee, tea and avocados. The president said that high level agreements had been concluded with Chinese authorities following sustained bilateral discussions.
The agreement is aimed to augment Kenya’s export volumes to the world’s second largest economy, which already supplies over KES. 600billion worth of goods to Kenya annually. This growing economic relationship with China has caused unrest among some Kenya’s long-time allies including the United States, given Nairobi’s selection as a major non-north Atlantic treaty organization (NATO) ally last year.
Finalizations on the legal instruments for the China deal has been mandated to Kenya’s trade and foreign affairs ministry for the next few months opening the way for exporters to tap into the broad Asian market duty free. Mr. lee Kinyanjui, Cabinet Secretary for trade said that China is a 1.4 billion market, providing a great opportunity for Kenya. However, he added and said that in contrast to its neighbors, Kenya is disadvantaged due to its lower middle-income status, meaning that some of our exporters to China have to pay 10% duty
President William Ruto said,“I was sent by the private sector to go and negotiate these markets,” he also said that his administration is pursuing trade deals with India, which has not been so successful. Nonetheless, Kenya has seen positive developments in their engagement with Canada and Turkey.
Additionally, he said, “It is up to us Kenyans to find tools on how to negotiate our way into the different markets,” referencing the Kenya’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European union that came into effect mid last year and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates signed in January 2025.
On the other hand, James Risch, a US senator made a proposition to amend the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2026, which seeks to review Kenya’s designation for its foreign and diplomatic policies, such as alignment with major US adversaries like China, Russia and Iran.
Following president Donald Trump`s tariffs in almost all main US trading partners, Kenya has been brokering a trade agreement with Washington. From 2000, Kenya has been exempted from tariffs when exporting to the US under African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). As this agreement nears expiry in September, the government is eyeing free trade with the US.
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