On January 29, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States and El Salvador have signed the U.S.-El Salvador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (Agreement). According to Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the USTR: “Today’s signing of the first Agreement on Reciprocal Trade in the Western Hemisphere will further strengthen markets for U.S. exports and lower trade barriers facing American workers and producers. This Agreement is an important step in the deepening of our strategic partnerships in Latin America, and I want to thank my counterparts from El Salvador for their strong commitment to achieving fair and balanced trade with the United States. This Agreement builds on our longstanding trade partnership and recognizes important supply chain linkages.” The United States and El Salvador had previously entered a framework agreement to negotiate details on this Agreement. For additional information, see Thompson Hine Update of November 18, 2025.
The Agreement will fully enter into force five days after the date on which both countries provide notification of the completion of their respective applicable legal procedures, or on such other date as the parties may decide. The Agreement follows closely the scope of the framework agreement:
- The United States will remove reciprocal tariffs on certain originating goods from El Salvador as set forth by their Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States subheadings under Annex I of the Agreement that covers hundreds of agricultural and industrial items.
- El Salvador has reaffirmed its commitments to the use of international standards, described in Article 7.3 of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (International Standards).
- El Salvador will provide the conformity assessment bodies of the United States treatment no less favorable than that it accords to its own bodies.
- El Salvador will ensure that technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures are applied in a non-discriminatory manner and do not operate as disguised restrictions on bilateral trade, and shall remove existing technical barriers to trade in areas that undermine reciprocity, including requirements for duplicative or unnecessary testing or conformity assessment.
- El Salvador will provide non-discriminatory or preferential market access for U.S. agricultural goods as detailed in the Agreement. This includes not restricting U.S. market access “due to the mere use of the individual cheese and meat terms” listed in Annex II of the Agreement.
- Annex III of the Agreement sets forth specific commitments that El Salvador has made to address non-tariff barriers and related matters. These commitments address medical devices, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles and parts, and several other items. These commitments also address certain documentation requirements, formalities and taxes.
- El Salvador has agreed to implement a robust standard for intellectual property protection and enforcement, including fully implementing certain international intellectual property treaties.
- El Salvador has agreed to protect internationally recognized labor rights. In doing so, El Salvador will prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced or compulsory labor and strengthen its labor laws and their enforcement.
- El Salvador has agreed to adopt, maintain and enforce high levels of environmental protection laws, including a commitment to take measures to improve forest sector governance and combat illegal logging, strengthen enforcement of its fisheries-related measures, and combat illegal wildlife trade and illegal mining.
- El Salvador has agreed not to impose digital services taxes, or similar taxes, that discriminate against U.S. companies.
Under the Agreement, and in order “to advance the mutual national security interests of El Salvador and the United States, El Salvador shall establish measures to restrict the unauthorized export, reexport, and in-country transfer of U.S.-origin or U.S.-controlled items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) unless the exporter presents U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) reexport authorization or demonstrates no BIS authorization is required.” El Salvador will also further develop its domestic export control systems and enforcement mechanisms.