Kenai anxiety can end an American duty-free trade deal and expose them to Trump’s tariff world news

Nairobi: This is the crunch time for the producer of levy and wrangler jeans in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Hundreds of sewing machines in a crowd, air -conditioned factory. On another floor, workers pack clothes fate for the American market. The fate of about 16,000 workers in the factory in the United Aryan Export Processing Zone is hanging in the remaining amount. In September, a duty-free trade agreement between Kenya and the United States may end under the African Development and Opportunity Act, or first. Factory founder, Pankaj Bedi, said the producers would be unable to compete well in the American market if the sub-Sahara is not already compromised, due to the difficult business environment in Sahara Africa. Without Aga – to benefit African countries that meet some American expectations in areas including governance and human rights – many Kenyan goods will no longer have duty -free access in the US market. And they will inform about the uncertainty of the global tariff campaign of Trump administration. This is a matter of concern throughout the continent. Talking to reporters after the Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramposa, President Donald Trump, said that “further discussion is being discussed … it is also the top for him for him” also in US administration. Bedi said that his business has benefited from a 25 -year -old AGOA agreement, but he will not survive if the deal has not increased again. “This time, we are hoping that President Trump will pass it for a long period, then may come to play a long -term strategy,” he said. The longest expansion is from a decade. In creating her pitch, Bedi said that she believes that Africa offers Asia the correct alternative source with its big and young workforce. According to the United Nations, seventy percent of people in sub-Sahara Africa are less than 30. “I think the supply chain will have a real innings, and Africa is the last limit. We cannot go to the moon and start construction there,” Bedi said. Kenya’s government will not comment on the deal or why it may be in danger. Economist Wangari Muikia said that the new American tariffs reflect a change in the direction of reviving American manufacturing, “to sideline the jobs again with Trump’s priority,” but warned that it might end “already” can end diplomatic relations and weaken American soft power. “ African governments have promoted a major employment generation Avenue to Agaa. In Kenya, according to government data published in 2024, 66,000 jobs have been manufactured since the program started. Kenya’s overall unemployment rate is 12.7%, but the rate between people under 35 is 67% – part of a comprehensive issue for most of Africa’s young population. According to the US Department of Commerce, in 2023, Kenya’s total exports including agricultural products, apparel and handicrafts were $ 510 million. United Aryan said that it exports 8 million jeans annually from Kenya. But some African governments and leaders have objected to the terms of the Eharia. Uganda President Yovery Musevani criticized the program in 2023 after being used to pressurize his stance on homosexuality. Former Kenya ambassador to the United Nations, Martin Kimani said in an interview with the Associated Press that he believes that the earlier unexpectedness has not been good for the economy. “The real measure of a trade governance is its prediction and its integration in long -term production,” he said. “The upcoming termination of tariffs and the program is that there is not a stable basis for the first African industrial development.” If the earlier deal of Kenya is not extended, the country will have to look for alternative markets such as African Continental Free Trade Area to ensure that the manufacturers have not lost the manufacturers and the manufacturers have exported the goods, the economist James Shikavati, the founder and the director of the Inter Region Economic Network. The continental free trade sector has drawbacks, including underdeveloped infrastructure that makes the goods expensive to transport, mistrusts that some countries are fully open to trade with neighbors and lack strong institutions that can mediated trade disputes. Given the recent trade-related policies of the Trump administration, each business partner would need to reevaluate its engagement with the US, said Shikvati said. For those whose jobs may be affected, there is anxiety. United Aryan employee Waldes Samora hopes to keep the stitch machines lukewarm, and that the livelihood will not be lost after September. The 59 -year -old father of nine has been working in a company for two decades. His wife also works there. Workers are paid an average of $ 200 per month, in a country where the minimum wage is $ 115. “I have never completed my education, but through this work I am able to educate my children,” he said.