This year, Chile and the U.S. mark 200 years of diplomatic relations and 20 years of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations. A fruitful commercial collaboration, Chilean exports to the U.S. have risen fivefold since.

In 2003, Chile became the sixth country worldwide and the first from South America to have an FTA with the U.S. With this, 100% of the bilateral trade enjoys free tariffs since the FTA’s enforcement.

According to ProChile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ promotion agency, trade has experienced an annual average growth of 9% since 2003, reaching $35 billion in revenue in 2022.

"As a small country, it was a historic milestone for us to sign this FTA. It not only gave us access to sell our products in the largest economy in the world, but it also deepened our strategy to develop an open, competitive, and export-oriented economy," says Ian Frederick, ProChile's trade commissioner in Los Angeles.

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Chile was the leading supplier of 51 products for the U.S. market last year. Fresh produce remains an important trade category, with grapes, cherries, oranges, and apples leading exports.

"In the last few years, we have launched different soft-landing programs for service industries, including tech, education, and health. Chile is the most innovative country in Latin America, and our businesses have developed solutions that can be used in different markets, including the United States," Frederick adds.

The executive says that the Chilean government is working on more non-traditional Chilean companies entering the American market in the future.