KTFA

FRANK26: "YES SALEH... BUT NOT AT 1310"........F26

Government advisor: US President's message conveys optimism about developing trade and investment relations

7/10/2025

Baghdad -  Nassar Al-Hajj

The Prime Minister's financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, confirmed on Thursday that Iraq's crude oil exports are exempt from US customs duties. He also noted that the US president's message regarding the imposition of a 30 percent customs duty on Iraq is optimistic and serves to develop and encourage trade and investment opportunities between the two friendly countries.

Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The US president's message regarding the imposition of a 30 percent customs duty on Iraq is optimistic and serves to develop and encourage opportunities for trade and investment relations between the two friendly countries."

He added, "Apart from Iraq's crude oil exports, which do not exceed 200,000 barrels per day and are worth approximately $4.5 billion annually (and are already exempt from President Trump's tariff list), there are no other actual Iraqi exports to the United States that merit the 30 percent tariff imposed on them, as the US president indicated in his letter to the Iraqi government."

He continued: "On the contrary, there are Iraqi civilian imports, some of which are strategic and important, from the United States to Iraq, but these imports do not exceed $1.5 billion annually. These imports include spare parts, precision instruments, engineering and electrical equipment, civil aircraft, digital equipment, high-level logistics services, some exported agricultural goods, and currently cars to Iraq. These imports are popular and accepted in the Iraqi market due to their durability and technological advancement."

Saleh pointed out that "the White House's message to the Iraqi government is a signal to open broader horizons for trade, economic, and investment cooperation through the window of encouraging the import of American goods. This requires a sustainable and stable process in developing quality imports from a friendly country that aligns with our country's interests in sustainable development, particularly in the fields of renewable energy, information technology, and high-quality consumer goods."

He pointed out that "this contributes to making the trade balance between the two countries balanced, in line with the diversification of the national economy's activities with proportionate payments, without neglecting the fact that Iraq invests nearly half of its investment portfolio of foreign reserves in US government bonds, and represents one of the strongest indicators of the strength of the effectiveness and indicators of the financial account of the balance of payments, its stability and its encouraging positive growth between the two countries, and the role of the United States in managing financial cooperation for these important resources that contribute to the future stability of the interests of the two friendly parties."

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