The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) convened their eleventh Economic Policy Dialogue in Abu Dhabi on January 15, 2026. The meeting was co-chaired by Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, UAE Minister of State, and Jacob Helberg, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Officials from both countries emphasized the strategic importance of their bilateral trade relationship. The UAE remains the largest U.S. trade partner in the Gulf region, a position it has held for nearly twenty years. The United States continues to have a significant trade surplus with the UAE.
Both sides praised growing cooperation in key sectors such as critical minerals, advanced technology, energy, manufacturing, and life sciences. They reiterated the UAE’s commitment to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade.
Al Hajeri noted that by 2024, total non-oil trade between the two countries surpassed $38 billion. Preliminary data for 2025 show that bilateral non-oil trade reached $19.3 billion in the first half of the year, representing a 3.4% increase compared to the previous year and supporting American industries like energy, aviation, and technology.
Discussions also addressed economic security and supply chain resilience. The Under Secretary highlighted shared interests in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), energy abundance, and digital infrastructure as ways to strengthen economic and national security alignment between both nations.
Both delegations discussed collaboration on critical minerals supply chains and coordinating investment in third-country projects to diversify these chains further. The dialogue included discussion of the Pax Silica Declaration—an initiative focused on secure supply chains for technologies central to AI—and recognized the UAE’s official entry into Pax Silica on January 14, 2026.
Support for regional connectivity initiatives was reaffirmed through continued backing of projects like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), with emphasis on increasing port and rail capacity.
The delegations covered a range of topics including investment, finance, business cooperation, intellectual property rights, tourism, digital economy development, emerging technologies such as quantum computing and genomics, water security issues, transportation logistics, infrastructure development, and joint efforts to promote global energy abundance.
The dialogue also addressed ongoing work within multilateral frameworks like the upcoming U.S.-led G20 summit and potential areas for cooperation among I2U2 countries (India-Israel-UAE-U.S.) on energy security and water resources.
Regarding artificial intelligence partnerships established during President Trump’s visit to the UAE in May 2025, both sides supported pathways for exporting advanced AI semiconductors while maintaining robust security measures. Emirati investments have been directed toward U.S.-based AI infrastructure projects as well as research centers and cloud architecture initiatives.
Progress was acknowledged on constructing a five-gigawatt AI campus in the UAE—the largest outside of the United States—which will benefit technology companies and research institutions from both countries by expanding access to advanced infrastructure.
Financial discussions included ongoing efforts to address remaining trade barriers; coordination against illicit finance; enhancing sanctions compliance; safeguarding global financial systems; formalizing bilateral frameworks such as an upcoming Treasury Engagement Framework; and welcoming new programs like the Known Investor pilot under CFIUS oversight.
On sustainability issues related to water resources management globally, Al Hajeri announced that his country looks forward to co-hosting with Senegal at year-end 2026 a United Nations Water Conference aimed at elevating international attention toward water challenges.
Both delegations concluded by affirming “the vital role of the Economic Policy Dialogue in maintaining strong cooperation and in advancing economic relations and partnerships between the United States and the UAE.”
