Describes bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that this country is party to, including with the United States. Includes websites and other resources where U.S. companies can get more information on how to take advantage of these agreements.
Last Published: 1/23/2020

Saudi Arabia is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which consists of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.  Membership confers special trade and investment privileges within those countries.  The GCC implemented a Customs Union on January 1, 2003 that stipulates free movement of local goods among member states.   The member states also agreed that they would switch to a single currency by January 1, 2010 at the latest, which has not materialized as yet and the common market proposal is still being worked out. Saudi Arabia is also a member of the League of Arab States.  The League has agreed to negotiate an Arab Free Trade Zone.

In 2003, the United States signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Saudi Arabia.  A TIFA is typically an umbrella agreement for ongoing structured dialogue between the United States and foreign governments on economic reform and trade liberalization.  The agreement promotes the establishment of legal protections for investors, improvements in intellectual property protection, more transparent and efficient customs procedures, and greater transparency in government and commercial regulations.  TIFA negotiations on a wide variety of trade and trade policy issues occur every one to two years. As of this writing, the last TIFA meeting was held in Washington, DC in May 2018.

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.