Sultanate of Oman, US trade see growth despite pandemic

The bilateral trade between the United States and the Sultanate of Oman touched $2.3 billion in September as both sides celebrated 12 years of signing the Free Trade Agreement.

In January 2021, the US imported over $200mn worth of Omani products, more than twice the monthly average witnessed over the past 15 years

“Sultanate of Oman’s exciting 2021 US export results are testament to the hard work and resilience of Omani manufacturers despite the challenges of the pandemic,” the official sources said.

“The figures indicate that despite the challenges faced by the business and industry sector during the pandemic, Omani industries were able to achieve good results and benefit from the agreement to increase Omani exports to the United States of America,” the Ministry of Commerce and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP).

According to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), non-oil exports from the Sultanate of Oman increased by 38.1 per cent in the first six months of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

The United States entered into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Sultanate of Oman on January 1, 2009.

The FTA allows US investors to wholly own their companies without requiring a local sponsor, although many choose to partner with Omani companies to leverage local expertise and to facilitate business.

Under the market access provisions of the FTA, the United States and Sultanate of Oman provided each other immediate duty-free access for tariff lines covering almost all consumer and industrial goods, and 87 per cent of all agricultural tariff lines. Both countries had agreed to phase out all tariffs on the remaining eligible goods within 10 years (January 1, 2019).

The FTA contains trade facilitation measures designed to expedite the movement of goods and the provision of services between the Sultanate of Oman and the United States; investment provisions intended to strengthen protections for US investors operating in the Sultanate of Oman, including allowing them to fully own a business without a local partner; and provisions on safeguards, intellectual property rights, government procurement, labor, environment, and dispute settlement to improve the regulatory climate for bilateral trade and investment.

The FTA provides fully reciprocal market access for US textile and apparel products. The United States and the Sultanate of Oman will eliminate tariffs on the same schedule on a product-by-product basis.