East African nations that are en-route to banning the
importation of used clothes may soon pay the price after Washington said
it will impose trade penalties in retaliation to what it sees as a
blockage of free trade.
The US State Department’s Harry
Sullivan, the Africa Bureau acting head of the economic and regional
affairs, said Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have until next week to
reverse the decision or face the penalties.
The East African leaders are expected to meet at the EAC Heads of State Summit on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development in Kampala, Uganda on February 23.
“I
believe the results of the meeting next week will determine how we
proceed,” Mr Sullivan said in a conference call with reporters.
East
African Community (EAC) member states agreed two years ago to impose
phased ban on used clothing imports (known as mitumba) over a three-year
period beginning 2019.
Kenya subsequently withdrew
from that agreement following US threats to end its eligibility for
duty-free clothing exports to the US market under the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Kenyan retreat
US trade
officials say that the mitumba ban violates an Agoa stipulation
requiring beneficiary countries to eliminate barriers to trade with the
America.
Kenya feared the loss of the duty-free and quota-free access to the US, its third largest market.
Rwanda,
Tanzania and Uganda — each of which earns far less through Agoa than
Kenya — jointly affirmed last July that they intend to proceed with the
mitumba ban.
The three countries argued that the action was essential to their efforts to develop domestic clothing manufacturing industries.
The Trump administration disputes that reasoning.
“While
we understand the East African Community’s desire to build a domestic
textile sector, we firmly believe the EAC ban on imports of used
clothing will not achieve that,” Mr Sullivan told reporters.
Making inexpensive mitumba unavailable will adversely affect many people in the three countries, he suggested.
“Leaders
or the EAC are saying to consumers of used clothing we are going to
take this choice away from you and you will not have access to this
market anymore,” he said.
“We question whether
consumers of used clothing will be able to afford the new apparel being
made in the East African Community market.”
A more
effective way of developing domestic clothing industries would entail
encouraging middle-class consumers to buy locally made apparel, Mr
Sullivan proposed.
An East African fashion industry
could “build its brand and market to the growing middle class, which
prefers to buy its apparel in shopping malls and other places anyway,”
he said.
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