By Janet Karimi
The administration of United States (US) trade agreements is primarily the responsibility of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). This entails negotiating and signing trade agreements that further the President’s trade policy, as well as keeping an eye on how our trading partners are carrying out the agreements they have with the United States.
In July 2022, Kenya and the United States launched the United States-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP). The objective was to achieve high-standard pledges through greater engagement in various areas, with the aim of enhancing investment, encouraging inclusive sustainable economic growth, supporting businesses, consumers, and workers, and boosting regional economic integration within Africa. The following areas were identified in the quest to develop a roadmap for enhanced cooperation, with the goal of negotiating high-standard commitments for economically meaningful outcomes; agriculture, anti-corruption, digital trade, Promoting Workers’ Rights and Protections inter alia.
The two governments were to develop a detailed roadmap for engagement in each of the areas mentioned therein. This was to be done within three months after they entered into the trade agreement. This was followed by a number of negotiations with the most recent one being held on 16th May, 2024. Being the 5th negotiation round, USTR invited Public Participation in the Stakeholder Listening Session which was to be attended by delegations from both countries. The primary goal being to cover three of the topics under the STIP that is; agriculture; workers’ rights and protections and customs and trade facilitation and enforcement.
The session was open to everyone who wished to make comments ranging from Small Scale Business Owners to the African Content Moderators.
One of the African Content Moderators stated that in Kenya, there was a desperate need for justice. She reported that US Big Tech companies, such as Facebook, were allegedly abusing and exploiting African workers in Kenya. She mentioned that legal battles had been fought and won, but Meta had allegedly ignored the court orders, rendering them powerless. The moderator requested assistance, stating that there was an opportunity to utilize the new trade partnership to prevent large tech firms from exploiting workers in Kenya and to ensure accountability for companies like Facebook, that allegedly violated labor laws and human rights, regardless of where such violations occurred in the world.
Additionally, it was highlighted that in Kenya, there had been instances where workers for big tech companies, exercised their human right to collectively organize and form trade unions to advocate for improved working conditions. It was reported that the response from companies like Facebook and its outsourcing firms, was allegedly blatant and brutal union-busting tactics. The speaker then appealed for a commitment to ensuring that the US-Kenya trade agreement included robust provisions aimed at preventing illegal disruption of trade union activity. They also requested that US companies operating in Kenya be mandated to comply with the core conventions of the International Labor Organization, with serious enforcement mechanisms and meaningful penalties in place, should companies fail to meet their obligations under the deal.
Moving on, they also requested that it would be important for STIP to borrow from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement which favors and protects the rights of their workers. They also requested that all the stakeholders be onboarded to this agreement.
While concluding the session, USTR stated that it had taken note of all the comments and requests that had been put forward and that they were going to table the same to the wider team.
References
- https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements
- https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2022/july/united-states-and-kenya-announce-launch-us-kenya-strategic-trade-and-investment-partnership
- https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2024/may/united-states-and-kenya-hold-fifth-negotiating-round-under-their-strategic-trade-and-investment
