In Nairobi’s bustling Gikomba market, East Africa’s largest open-air market, millions of secondhand garments—from jeans to winter coats—are traded daily. Virtually all of these clothes, known locally as mitumba, are imported from wealthier nations. A kilogram of imported secondhand clothing typically retails for 150 Kenyan shillings (USD 1.15). Informal traders buy these clothes in bulk and distribute them to peri-urban and rural areas across Kenya, where affordable clothing is highly sought after by low-income households.
These vibrant markets are now facing significant disruption. In an effort to revive its struggling domestic textile and apparel sector, the Kenyan government increased import tariffs on a kilogram of imported secondhand clothing from USD 0.20 to USD 1.40. Consequently, thousands of small-scale market vendors, washers, and logistics providers are struggling to maintain their livelihoods as wholesale prices rise. Major international trading partners, particularly the United States, argue that these protective tariffs constitute unfair trade barriers. The US has warned that it may suspend Kenya’s highly lucrative preferential tariff-free access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)—which allows duty-free exports of Kenyan-made garments to the US—if the restrictive tariffs on secondhand clothing are not removed.
Globally, the export of used clothing is a massive industry. High-income countries in North America and Europe generate huge surpluses of discarded clothing, which are exported at very low cost to developing nations. While this trade provides cheap, durable clothing to low-income families and supports over two million informal jobs in Kenya alone, domestic manufacturers and cotton farmers argue that these cheap imports severely undercut local industries, leading to decades of industrial decline.
Currently, imported secondhand clothing dominates the Kenyan apparel market, satisfying over 80% of local demand. Kenya’s domestic textile manufacturing is constrained by numerous supply-side issues, such as high electricity tariffs, outdated spinning and weaving machinery, and low local cotton yields. However, domestic industrialists claim that the flood of cheap, imported mitumba is the single greatest obstacle to their survival and growth.
A large textile mill in Eldoret is currently operating at just 35% of its production capacity. "We cannot compete when a complete imported outfit sells for less than the raw cotton cost required to weave the fabric," says the factory manager. As a result, many domestic mills have scaled down operations or pivoted exclusively to producing industrial uniforms and institutional bedsheets, where imported secondhand clothing cannot directly compete.
Discuss the likely impact on Kenyan consumers and domestic textile producers of the increase in the tariff on imports of secondhand clothing. Use an appropriate tariff diagram to support your answer.
