US exports to the UAE grew significantly last year as bilateral trade grew between the two countries, according to new data from the US Census Bureau.
Exports from the US to the UAE hit $31.4 billion last year, a 16.23 per cent increase from 2024. Exports from the UAE rose from $7.41 billion to $7.6 billion.
The US has a $23.8 billion trade surplus with the UAE, making the Emirates one of a few. They include Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf, the UK, Singapore, Brazil and others.
Census Bureau data also showed the UAE remained the top Gulf destination for US exports last year, followed by Saudi Arabia ($14 billion), Qatar ($4.4 billion), Oman ($2.2 billion) and Bahrain ($1.3 billion).
The latest government data comes as the US and UAE boost trade ties, notably through technology and artificial intelligence. This includes a $1.4 trillion investment in the US related to AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.
Meanwhile, New York-based bank JPMorgan Chase said it will remove the UAE from its emerging-market bond indexes by June for exceeding the bank’s measures of wealth for three straight years.
The UAE, which represents 4.1 per cent of JPMorgan's EMBI Global Diversified Index, will be phased out in four separate decrements beginning on March 31 and culminating on June 30. The UAE will also be removed from the Euro emerging-market bond index on March 31.
News of the UAE being removed from JPMorgan Chase's emerging-market bond indexes was first reported by Bloomberg.
Growing wealth in the Middle East also led JPMorgan to remove Kuwait and Qatar from its emerging-market bond indexes last year.
As a result of the UAE's removal from the EMBI, JPMorgan analysts said the headline spread for the Emerging Markets Bond Index Global Diversified is expected to widen by 10 basis points at the end of the phase-out period.
That spread, which represents the extra yield investors demand to own emerging markets bonds rather than US Treasuries, stood at 247 basis points on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
The reclassification recognises that the UAE’s per capita income as well as its cost of living, are at developed-market levels. The UAE's GDP per capita stood at about $50,000 a person as of 2024, according to most recent data from the World Bank.
