'China trade is in Kenya’s best interest,' Ruto defends Beijing ties amid U.S. tensions

President William Ruto on Wednesday announced that China has agreed to lift all tariffs on key Kenyan agricultural exports, including tea, coffee, and avocados, a major trade milestone even as Nairobi’s dalliance with Beijing continues to stir tensions with the United States.

Ruto told a presidential private sector roundtable in Nairobi that a high-level agreement had been concluded with Chinese authorities following sustained bilateral discussions.

“They have agreed to remove all the tariffs on our tea, on our coffee, on our avocado, and all other agricultural exports,” said the President. “That, I think, is a major breakthrough for us.”

The agreement is poised to boost Kenya’s export volumes to the world’s second-largest economy, which already supplies over Ksh.600 billion worth of goods to Kenya annually.

Ruto acknowledged that the growing economic relationship with China has caused unease among some of Kenya’s traditional allies, including the United States, especially given Nairobi’s designation as a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally last year.

Already, U.S. Senator James Risch has proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which seeks to review Kenya's designation for its foreign and diplomatic policies, such as its alignment with major U.S. adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran.

“It’s partly why I have a bit of a problem with some of our friends,” Ruto admitted on Wednesday. “But it is what I must do for Kenya... It’s in the best interest of Kenya that we get into this market.”

He said Beijing’s commitment to open up its market to Kenyan products followed a candid meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“I was sent by the private sector to go and negotiate these markets,” he said, adding that his administration is also pursuing trade deals with India, although “we haven’t quite had a breakthrough”.

He reported positive developments in engagements with Turkey and Canada.

Kenya’s Trade and Foreign Affairs ministries are expected to finalize the legal instruments for the China deal “in the next couple of months”, Ruto added, paving the way for exporters to tap into the vast Asian market duty-free.

In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly all key U.S. trading partners that are expected to go into effect this week, Kenya has been brokering a trade agreement with Washington.

Ruto’s government is also eyeing a free-trade agreement with the U.S. as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) nears expiry this September.

Since May 2000, Kenya has been exempted from tariffs when exporting to the U.S. under AGOA.

“Kenya will be appealing this 10 percent trade tariff, and we have drafted the rationale for that,” Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui told Citizen TV in April.

Trump’s tariffs will affect Kenya’s total goods trade with the world’s largest economy; Nairobi exported goods worth $737.3 million (about Ksh.95.3 billion) to Washington in 2024, per the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, much of which was apparel, coffee, and tea.

Even so, Nairobi has also been courting more markets for its goods to avoid what it sees as overdependence on the U.S.