"Most Tariffs Eliminated"... El Salvador Courts Trump, Emerges as a 'Key Partner'

El Salvador in Central America Forms Close Ties with Trump
Most 10% Tariffs to Be Eliminated Under Trade Agreement
Likely to Set a Precedent for Argentina and Other Trump-Friendly Nations

As President Donald Trump strengthens the United States' influence over the Western Hemisphere (the Americas and surrounding regions), El Salvador, a Central American nation, is moving to secure practical benefits as a "key partner" of the United States.

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.

According to Yonhap News, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 29th (local time), sharing a photo of the signing ceremony between El Salvador's Ministry of Economy and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for what he called "the first mutual trade agreement in the Western Hemisphere." He also posted a link to the USTR's official press release, expressing his excitement.

On this day, Jamieson Greer, the USTR representative, and Maria Luisa Hayem, El Salvador's Minister of Economy, signed the "U.S.-El Salvador Mutual Trade Agreement." Greer stated, "This agreement marks significant progress in deepening our strategic partnership in Latin America," and described it as "an example that recognizes the important supply chain connectivity based on our longstanding trade cooperation."

Minister Maria Luisa Hayem also emphasized "strengthening export competitiveness, increasing investment and employment, and further integrating into the U.S. value chain" in her post on X, adding, "We thank the U.S. side."

The full text of the agreement provided by the USTR reveals that the United States plans to eliminate most of the 10% tariffs it imposed on Salvadoran imports when mutual tariffs were announced in April of last year. This move is specified as aiming for a deeper, mutually beneficial relationship that goes beyond the existing free trade agreement between the United States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR). The United States is El Salvador's largest trading partner (accounting for about 34% as of 2024), with the trade surplus in favor of the United States.

President Bukele has established a close relationship with President Trump. Last year, he accepted the so-called "inmate outsourcing" policy, transferring cartel gang members imprisoned in the United States to El Salvador's notoriously harsh prisons. Prior to President Trump's inauguration, Bukele had promoted infrastructure development funded by Chinese investment, but has since distanced himself from such efforts.

This new tariff-free agreement between the two countries is expected to be seen as part of a U.S.-allied supply chain reorganization. In South America, right-wing governments in Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina are also actively forming partnerships with the United States.