African apparel industry under threat
17/08/2010
Industry observers in Kenya have observed that the country’s textile exports to the US will face stiff competition if reforms to a preferential trade programme go ahead.
The US Congress is working on a rule that proposes to reform the preferential trade programme and extend the duty-free-quota-free (DFQF) status to apparel products from non-African countries such as Cambodia and Bangladesh.
The proposed reforms come at a time when textile exports from Kenya to the US, under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), have also dropped from a high of $272 million in 2003 to a low of under $180 million.
Chairman of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Jas Bedi, said the reform would “destroy the African apparel industry that was created under Agoa”.
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