Kazakhstan Remains a Key Trade Partner for the United States in Central Asia

Kazakhstan remains a key partner for the United States in its trade with Central Asian countries. Last year, the republic accounted for 96.7% of the region’s total exports of goods and services to the US. In monetary terms, this amounted to 2.4 billion US dollars out of a total of 2.5 billion US dollars in exports from Central Asia to the US. Uzbekistan ranked second, though far behind, with exports to the US reaching 44.4 million US dollars. The figures come from the international platform Trading Economics, based on UN Comtrade data.

As for US imports to Central Asia, Kazakhstan again led the region with a 62.3% share among the five countries. Last year, imports from the US to Kazakhstan totaled nearly 1.1 billion US dollars. Uzbekistan came second with 380.8 million US dollars. Turkmenistan (82.2 million US dollars) and Tajikistan (56.8 million US dollars) imported the least from the US.

According to the same source, total US imports last year approached 3.4 trillion US dollars, while exports amounted to 2.1 trillion US dollars. The country’s main trading partners are Mexico, Canada, and China. Central Asia’s share in the overall US foreign trade structure remains marginal — less than 1%.

Mutual trade between Kazakhstan and the United States has shown strong momentum in recent years. The US share in Kazakhstan’s total foreign trade has grown from 2.3% in 2019 to 3%. According to the Bureau of National statistics of Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, bilateral trade between the two countries reached a record high since 2019 — 4.2 billion US dollars last year, nearly double the level recorded five years earlier. Imports from the US accounted for 53.2% of that turnover.

From January to August of the current year, trade between Kazakhstan and the United States amounted to 2.1 billion US dollars — down by 25.8% compared to the same period in 2024. This trend is not unique to bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and the US; a similar decline in monetary terms has been observed more broadly across Kazakhstan’s export performance. We have previously provided a detailed analysis of the reasons behind this development.

In the first nine months of the current year, Kazakhstan’s exports to the United States totaled 749.7 million US dollars — half the volume recorded in the same period of 2024. Detailed data from the Committee on the legal statistics and special accounts of the state office of public prosecutor of Republic of Kazakhstan show that, as in 2024, the downward trend in the export value of oil and petroleum products has persisted. Specifically, exports of these goods to the US amounted to 269.1 million US dollars — 3.5 times less than in the first nine months of the previous year. Both the physical export volume and the average value per tonne have declined. In addition to oil, the US imports uranium and its compounds, silver, ferroalloys, and rare metals such as tantalum and titanium from Kazakhstan. Export volumes for many of these categories have also decreased.

Total imports from the United States to Kazakhstan in January–September of the current year amounted to just under 1.7 billion US dollars — down by 4.8% year-on-year. Kazakhstan primarily imports high value-added products from the US, including passenger vehicles, aircraft, agricultural machinery, medical equipment, computers, and mobile phones. A significant portion of imports consists of pharmaceuticals and vaccines: in the first three quarters of the current year, imports of these socially critical goods from the US to Kazakhstan reached 249.3 million US dollars — 2.2 times higher than in January–September 2024.

Mutually beneficial cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States spans several areas. Beyond trade, it includes investment activity, socio-economic collaboration, and grant-based initiatives. Mutual interest also extends to the business sector. According to the Bureau of National statistics of Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as of early October of the current year, there were 468 foreign enterprises operating in Kazakhstan with US capital participation. American investors show particular interest in sectors such as IT and digitalization, consulting services, manufacturing, education, trade, and others.

Despite the geopolitical turbulence and crises of recent years, the operations of American companies in Kazakhstan have not come to a halt. On the contrary, their number has increased by 18.8%, while the number of joint Kazakhstan–US enterprises rose by 5.6%.

Although the United States does not hold a leading position in Kazakhstan’s total trade turnover, the two countries remain strategic partners — politically, economically, and in the broader sense of long-term development.