The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer is preparing to start negotiating a free trade agreement with the African country of Kenya. As with any trade deal, you must first examine the barriers which free trade will remove. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) talks about the barriers that need to come down for red meat exports to be successful.
Cheyenne McEndaffer is the Director of Export Services for the USMEF. She says the biggest red flag they would like to see removed is the ambiguous language in Kenya?s import licensing.
There are other technical issues to work out. However, a 25% tariff on all beef and pork products would not be favorable to U.S. exports of meat. McEndaffer says that would need to be removed.
McEndaffer says that despite these challenges, Kenya and other African countries show great potential as an export marketplace for U.S. grown meat products.
The USMEF says they are excited to see what doors a Kenyan agreement could open on the rest of the African continent.
