ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce on Monday signed an agreement to enhance private sector cooperation between their countries, the US embassy in Baghdad said. This comes as Iraq is seeking to mitigate the impact of Washington’s recent tariffs increase on a wide range of its goods.
The US embassy described the memorandum of understanding as pivotal “to strengthen ties between the US and Iraqi private sectors,” adding that “this partnership will foster long-term economic collaboration” between the US and Iraq.
For its part, the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Monday cited the US diplomatic mission to Baghdad as announcing that a delegation comprising “60 companies” from the US “energy, health and technology sectors” arrived in Iraq.
"This is the first trade mission approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce to Iraq and the largest U.S. business delegation to Iraq in the history of the Chamber," the embassy said, adding that the visit will last until Wednesday and will see the delegation “meet with high-level Iraqi officials, engage with Iraqi companies, and sign several agreements."
The efforts come as Iraq is looking to mitigate the impact of newly-implemented US tariffs through expanded sector partnerships and increased opportunities for American businesses, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani stated on Saturday.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump introduced what he described as “reciprocal tariffs” in several countries, including Iraq. He argued that Baghdad imposes a 78 percent tariff on US goods, adding that Washington would respond with a 39 percent tariff on Iraqi products.
However, Baghdad rejected those figures on Saturday, saying the US tariffs are linked to the broader trade imbalance between the two countries rather than to specific customs duties imposed by Iraq.
Sudani’s office explained that most US goods enter Iraq indirectly via “third countries,” due to particular commercial practices by American companies.
For his part, the Iraqi premier’s financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, on Thursday downplayed to Rudaw the potential impact of the tariffs, noting that they would have “zero” effect as Iraq exports little to the US aside from oil and gas, which are exempt from the new measures.
