President William Ruto's administration has commended the United States government for retaining its reciprocal tariff at 10 per cent, the lowest rate among nations with comparable export interests.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui, in a statement on Friday, August 1, thanked President Donald Trump's administration and expressed Kenya's commitment to deepening its longstanding trade relationship with the US.
According to Kinyanjui, the US has been a key strategic partner for Kenya across various sectors, including commodity exports, digital trade, tourism, and regional security cooperation.
He added that Kenya would continue to engage constructively with Trump's administration to safeguard and grow the historical trade ties that have for the longest time benefited both countries.
"Kenyan exports to the US continue to enjoy the 10 per cent tariff, the lowest rate among nations with comparable export interests," the CS announced.
"Kenya remains committed to deepening its longstanding trade and investment relationship with the US. We will continue to engage constructively with U.S authorities to safeguard and grow the historical trade ties," he added.
Kinyanjui's statement comes hours after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on several leading global economies, including Brazil, India, Japan, Israel, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In the executive order signed on Thursday, July 31, the US government introduced additional reciprocal tariffs on 70 countries, including some African nations.
While Kenya was spared in the latest round of tariffs, African countries that faced the heat include South Africa and Algeria, which were slapped with a 30 per cent tariff on their exports to the US.
Other African countries that were hard hit by the tariff increase include Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Cameroon, Botswana and Angola, which suffered a 15 per cent export duty.
Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe also faced a 15 per cent increase in reciprocal tariff.
Uganda emerged as the only East African nation affected in the latest round of tariff hikes, with Trump imposing a 15 per cent duty on Uganda's exports to the US.
As per the executive order, goods from all other unlisted countries, including Kenya, will be subject to a 10 per cent US import tax.
"Goods of any foreign trading partner that is not listed in this order will be subject to a rate of duty of 10 per cent according to the terms of Executive Order 14257, as amended, unless otherwise expressly provided," read part of the executive order.
According to Trump, despite negotiating with some trading partners, the countries in question had not offered terms that sufficiently addressed the trading imbalances.
