The representatives are set to have in-person meetings scheduled between Tuesday and Friday this week.
“These meetings have been convened against the backdrop of recent meetings held between Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina and US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on how to progress and deepen trade and investment relations between Kenya and the United States,” the Ministry of Trade said in a statement.
Trade and Enterprise Development Principal Secretary Johnson Waweru will lead the Kenyan delegation in the four-day closed-door meetings.
Assistant United States Trade Representative for African Affairs Constance Hamilton is meanwhile expected to lead the US delegations.
The fresh round of meetings is expected to firm up discussions over a potential free trade agreement (FTA) between the pair of countries.
Nevertheless, future trade collaboration between Kenya and the US may not necessarily be binded by an FTA with the US government being open to trade deal alternatives.
“I’m sure you are aware of the Build Back Better World or B3W initiative that President Biden announced at the G7 Summit. We are thinking about how we approach foreign trade and balancing that with our domestic economic concerns but we are committed to working with our Kenyan partners to strengthen our economic relationship,” a senior US official told journalists during President Uhuru Kenyatta visit of the White House in November last year.
The proposed FTA did not feature as part of the agenda during talks between President Kenyatta and his counterpart Joe Biden raising eyebrows to the fruition of a trade deal between the pair of countries.
Since assuming office in January last year, President Joe Biden administration has been undertaking a forensic review of all deals reached by his predecessor Donald Trump including Kenya’s proposed FTA.
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