Trading Partner Portal: Costa Rica
Overview
Costa Rica to join UK as member of £13 trillion global trade bloc
UK Government, May 7, 2026
G3 Partners Opens Procomer Office in Silicon Valley to Accelerate U.S. Investment into Costa Rica
G3 Partners, June 24, 2025
Trade Overview
Costa Rica is a small nation in Central America with a geographical size slightly smaller than West Virginia. Costa Rica has a population of over 5.3 million people and a nominal GDP of $95 billion. U.S. Department of Commerce
Costa Rica is a major exporter of agriculture products, such as, bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, and sugar. U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. – Costa Rica Trade
Costa Rica has a well-founded trade relationship with the United States. Two-way trade in goods totaled $24.15 billion in 2025; the U.S. is Costa Ricas largest trading partner.
In 2025, the U.S. exported $10.23 billion worth of goods. The United States’ key exports to Costa Rica include petroleum and coal products ($2.01 billion), computers and electronic products ($1.45 billion), miscellaneous manufactures ($977 million), chemicals ($796 million), and processed foods ($665 million).
The United States imported $13.91 billion in goods from Costa Rica in 2025. Key imports from Costa Rica were miscellaneous manufacture ($5.38 billion), computer and electronic products ($4.31 billion), agricultural products ($1.61 billion), goods returned ($691 million), and processed foods ($537 million).
Services trade between Costa Rica and the U.S. totaled $8.69 billion in 2025, with exports totaling $2.82 billion. Top exports included travel, transport services, financial services, other business services, and telecommunications, computer, & information services.
Services imports for the same year totaled $5.87 billion, with top imports from Costa Rica to U.S. being travel, other business services, transport services, financial services, and maintenance and repair services.
Costa Rica – California Trade
Out of all the states in the U.S., California is one of the largest export destinations for goods from Costa Rica. California received $1.69 billion of imports from Costa Rica in 2025. The top category of merchandise imported from Costa Rica is computer and electronic products at $692 million. Other key imported products are miscellaneous manufactured goods ($460 million), agricultural products ($188 million), reimporting ($174 million), and processed foods ($101 million).
California exported $740 million worth of goods in 2025, a roughly 26 precent increase from the previous year. Those exports include miscellaneous manufactures ($122 million), computer and electronic products ($121 million), primary metals manufactures ($87 million), plastics and rubber products ($76 million), and chemicals ($53 million). U.S. Department of Commerce
FDI – Costa Rica
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, an estimated 27,000 jobs in the United States are supported from the U.S. exports to Costa Rica alone. U.S. Department of Commerce, BEA.
U.S. FDI into Costa Rica in 2024 totaled $7.1 billion, while Costa Rican FDI into the U.S. based on balance of payments and direct investment position was -$277 million in 20224. (Bureau of Economic Analysis).
Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean
ECLAC, December 2025
Trade Agreements
Trade Agreements
CAFTA-DR (Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade Agreement)
The United States trade deal with some of the small developing countries in Central America was signed by President George W. Bush in 2005 as an expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Members of the CAFTA-DR free trade agreement include the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Exports from the United States to this group of countries totaled $29 billion in 2015, while imports totaled approximately $24 billion. This trade agreement ensures that 100% of goods from the United States are not subject to tariffs in these countries, it also has a goal of phasing out all tariffs on agricultural products by 2020.
Events
Events
Central American Ambassadors Promote Benefits of Trade Agreement with U.S. (03/08/2005)
The California Chamber of Commerce hosted five ambassadors representing the nations included in the proposed U.S.- Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) at an International Luncheon Forum on March 8, 2005.