Kenya says new U.S. tariff hurts local businesses

Xinhua
04 Apr 2025, 15:45 GMT+10

An aerial drone photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a city view in Nairobi, Kenya. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

A Kenyan government official said Thursday that a new tariff imposed on the country's exports to the United States will hurt local businesses.

NAIROBI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan government official said Thursday that a new tariff imposed on the country's exports to the United States will hurt local businesses.

Lee Kinyanjui, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, that the 10 percent reciprocal tariff imposed by the U.S. government on Kenyan imports will raise costs for local businesses.

People pass outside the National Bank branch in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Oct. 30, 2024. (Photo by John Okoyo/Xinhua)

"Supply chain adjustments will now be necessary, such as expanding production to meet new demand. This will require investment in infrastructure, technology, and skills development," he said.

Kinyanjui noted that Kenya will seek to explore opportunities that come with the imposition of the tariff.

He said the country would strive to diversify its exports by producing goods that are more expensive from countries with higher tariffs, including apparel and leather, to sell in the U.S. market.

Kenya sold goods worth 72.96 billion Kenyan shillings (about 563 million U.S. dollars) to the United States in 2024, an increase of 23 percent from the previous year, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

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