From July 1st 2022, the East African Community officially implemented the fourth 35% Common External Tariff (CET) decision. The planned products include:

Dairy products, meat products, grains, edible oils, beverages and alcohol, sugar and confectionery, fruits, nuts, coffee, tea, flowers, condiments, furniture, leather products, cotton textiles, clothing, steel products and ceramic products, etc.

To explain here, the members of the East African Community include: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the seven East African countries.

At present, the EAC Common External Tariff (CET) rate is divided into three levels, 25% for final consumer goods, 10% for intermediate products, and 0% for raw materials and capital goods. The original intention was to protect local manufacturing from competition from cheap imports.

The current EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki said the introduction of the 35% common external tariff this time is a positive step towards promoting the development of the industrial sector and maximizing the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In one step, this move will stimulate intra-regional trade by encouraging the development of local manufacturing and increasing the value-added and industrialization of products.

According to local media, after the maximum common external tariff rate is raised from 25% to 35%, the intra-regional trade revenue of the EAC will increase by 18.9 million US dollars, the employment rate will increase by 0.03%, and the trade revenue of each member state will increase by 5.5%.

It needs to be reminded here that Kenya and Uganda have always been high-incidence areas of commercial fraud in Africa. After the tariff adjustment, the import cost will increase. Please pay attention to the risk prevention of exporting to relevant areas!

For more detail of Iron steel HS CODE, please refer to below information.