Kenya’s garment processing industry is greatly affected by the “AGOA Third Country Fabrics Clause”

Kenya’s garment processing industry has been severely affected by the Third Country Fabric Provision (the Third Country Fabric Provision) of the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). According to the 2013 Kenya Economic Research Report, the number of employees in Kenya’s Export Processing Zone (EPZ) garment processing factories in 2012 was 23,811, a decrease of 5.4% from 2011; the total investment was 6.2 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately US$73 million). A decrease of 9.4% from 2011 was mainly due to the failure of third-country fabric terms to be extended as scheduled, and investors were worried about whether Kenyan garments could continue to be exported to the United States. It was not until August last year, when the U.S. Congress approved the extension to 2015, that investors began to formulate relevant long-term investment plans. The Kenya Apparel Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Kenya Apparel Manufacturers and Exporters Association) stated that if Kenya fails to successfully lobby the US government to pass the extension of this clause, it will result in the loss of 40,000 jobs in Kenya, the closure of 15 garment factories and the cost of 225 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately 26.47 billion shillings). billion) in foreign exchange losses. Currently, the Kenya Export Processing Zone Management Committee is promoting the introduction of the Special Economic Zones (Special Economic Zones) bill to promote diversified operations and reduce over-reliance on national markets such as the United States.