Last reviewed: 11 September 2026
United States–Oman trade reached an estimated US$4.3 billion in goods and services in 2025. Goods accounted for US$3.328 billion and services for US$969 million. The U.S. recorded a surplus in both. Preliminary 2026 merchandise data show a different near-term pattern: U.S. exports fell and imports from Oman rose during January–July compared with the same months of 2025, narrowing the goods surplus.
This page keeps calendar-year goods, services and investment series separate. It also distinguishes a direct-investment stock from an annual inflow, a project value and a financing memorandum. Those distinctions matter: adding them produces a large but meaningless “economic relationship” number.
Central finding: the corridor has shifted from a large U.S. goods deficit in 2022 to a substantial U.S. surplus in 2024–2025. At the same time, services remain material and U.S.-source FDI in Oman is much larger than annual trade—principally because investment stock accumulates over time and is concentrated in capital-intensive activity.
Goods trade, 2021 to July 2026
| Period | U.S. exports to Oman | U.S. imports from Oman | Total goods trade | U.S. balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | US$1,396.8m | US$1,749.3m | US$3,146.1m | –US$352.4m |
| 2022 | US$1,528.6m | US$2,708.3m | US$4,236.9m | –US$1,179.7m |
| 2023 | US$1,859.8m | US$1,663.4m | US$3,523.2m | +US$196.3m |
| 2024 | US$1,957.8m | US$1,325.7m | US$3,283.5m | +US$632.1m |
| 2025 | US$2,202.2m | US$1,125.6m | US$3,327.8m | +US$1,076.6m |
| Jan–Jul 2026 | US$1,014.1m | US$839.1m | US$1,853.2m | +US$175.0m |
What changed over the period?
2022 was the high point for Oman-to-U.S. goods
Two-way goods trade rose to US$4.237 billion in 2022, driven mainly by U.S. imports from Oman. Imports reached US$2.708 billion, 54.8% above 2021, while U.S. exports increased 9.4%. Because the corridor includes fuel, chemicals, fertiliser, metals and other industrial supplies, values can change sharply with commodity prices and shipment timing. The total is therefore not a clean measure of customer count or market depth.
The balance reversed in 2023
U.S. goods exports rose to US$1.860 billion in 2023 while imports from Oman fell to US$1.663 billion. The U.S. moved from a US$1.180 billion deficit to a US$196 million surplus. The surplus then expanded to US$632 million in 2024 and US$1.077 billion in 2025. In 2025, U.S. exports grew 12.5% and imports fell 15.1%, using USTR’s rounded comparison.
Early 2026 narrowed the surplus
January–July 2026 goods exports were US$1.014 billion, down 19.1% from US$1.253 billion in the same period of 2025. Imports were US$839 million, up 23.1% from US$682 million. Two-way trade fell 4.2%, while the U.S. surplus fell 69.4%, from US$572 million to US$175 million. Seven months do not establish a structural reversal: aircraft, industrial equipment and commodity shipments can make monthly and annual comparisons uneven.
Services are a meaningful part of the relationship
| Calendar year | U.S. service exports | U.S. service imports | Total services trade | U.S. balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | US$774m | US$216m | US$990m | +US$558m |
| 2025 | US$754m | US$215m | US$969m | +US$538m |
U.S. service exports fell 2.6% in 2025, but US$754 million remains commercially significant. The total is consistent with a market in which engineering, consulting, digital, cloud, licensing, transport, financial and technical services can be delivered without appearing in customs merchandise data. The public USTR summary does not provide a bilateral category breakdown, so the figures should not be assigned to individual sectors without the underlying BEA table.
The services dimension affects entry strategy. U.S. Commerce guidance states that Oman does not require a U.S. company to incorporate or invest locally merely to supply a service cross-border under the FTA. A local entity may still be needed for staff, regulated delivery, tenders, data requirements, recurring support or In-Country Value obligations.
What goods move between the two markets?
From the United States to Oman
The U.S. International Trade Administration identifies vehicles, aircraft, petroleum products, chemicals, plastics and industrial engines as principal U.S. merchandise exports to Oman. These categories fit Oman’s transport, aviation, energy, construction and industrial base. They also create secondary markets for spares, maintenance, testing, software, training and integration.
From Oman to the United States
A U.S. State Department bilateral summary has historically identified industrial supplies, bauxite and aluminium, fertilisers, jewellery, plastics and fuel oil among U.S. imports from Oman. This remains useful as a qualitative map, not a 2025 ranking. Product shares should be checked against current HS-level Census or USITC data before a sourcing or tariff decision, especially because commodity prices and U.S. product-specific trade measures changed materially after 2024.
The bilateral composition is therefore complementary in places: Oman supplies energy- and materials-linked products, while the United States supplies capital goods, technology-intensive products and services. But the same pattern exposes trade values to oil, chemicals, metals and large-equipment cycles.
A clearer 2025 composition snapshot
A USAFacts presentation of U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data adds useful broad-category detail. These are BEA economic categories, not HS-code product rankings, so they should be used to understand the shape of the corridor rather than to price a shipment.
| 2025 flow and category | Value | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. exports to Oman: capital goods | US$961m | 32.6% of total U.S. goods-and-services exports to Oman; the largest broad export category |
| U.S. exports to Oman: financial services | US$247m | The largest U.S. service-export category |
| U.S. imports from Oman: industrial supplies and materials | US$801m | 59.7% of total U.S. goods-and-services imports from Oman; the largest broad import category |
| U.S. imports from Oman: government goods and services | US$89m | The largest service-import category reported in the same presentation |
What does the FTA change—and what does it not change?
The U.S.–Oman Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2009. Oman provides immediate duty-free access on virtually all industrial and consumer products, with the remaining handful phased out by 2019. The agreement also covers services, investment, intellectual property, government procurement and dispute mechanisms.
- It can improve landed cost: when the product is correctly classified, originates under the applicable rule and is documented.
- It can support service entry: cross-border supply may be possible without immediate local incorporation.
- It can improve legal predictability: through investment, procurement and intellectual-property commitments.
- It does not replace regulation: product registration, professional licensing, tax, data, labour and tender rules still apply.
- It does not cure weak documents: U.S. firms have reported duties on qualifying goods routed by road through Dubai or billed by a third party.
- It does not freeze future trade policy: product-specific or additional U.S. tariffs and remedies may apply even where the underlying FTA rate is zero.
For a live shipment, check the exact tariff line and current measure at the time of entry. See the separate Oman–U.S. FTA manufacturing and export guide rather than relying on a headline “zero tariff” claim.
A useful 2026 example is the temporary U.S. Section 122 surcharge. The February proclamation applied a 10% surcharge to many imports from 24 February through 24 July 2026, subject to listed exceptions and any Congressional extension. It should not be described as a current September 2026 tariff without evidence of an extension. Separate Section 232 measures for steel, aluminium, copper and derivative products were modified again in June 2026; the applicable additional rate now depends on the exact HTS classification, material content, product list, origin and entry date. An Oman–U.S. FTA rate does not automatically displace those additional measures.
Investment: the latest available position
| Measure | End-Q1 2026 | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Total FDI stock in Oman | RO32.197bn | Cumulative direct-investment position from all source countries |
| U.S.-source FDI stock | RO8.696bn | 27.0% of the total; up 10% year on year |
| UK-source FDI stock | RO16.885bn | Largest source-country position in the same preliminary series |
| Oil and gas extraction FDI | RO25.889bn | 80.4% of total Oman FDI stock across all source countries |
| Manufacturing FDI | RO2.870bn | Second-largest recipient sector in the reported breakdown |
The U.S. position is substantial, but it should not be read as a diversified portfolio of hundreds of equal investments. Oman’s total FDI is dominated by oil and gas, and Occidental has a large, long-running operating footprint. It is reasonable to infer that hydrocarbons account for a significant part of the U.S. stock, but the available table does not disclose the exact U.S.-by-industry split.
Why some published investment figures conflict
A December 2025 U.S. Commerce market overview says in one sentence that the United States was the largest investor in Q1 2025 with “$7.4 billion” and the UK had “$7 billion”; the same paragraph then says total UK and U.S. investments were approximately US$40 billion and US$20 billion. Those statements are internally inconsistent and appear to mix Omani rials, U.S. dollars or different series. The end-Q1 2026 NCSI-linked data instead place the UK first at RO16.885 billion and the U.S. second at RO8.696 billion. This article uses that later, definitionally clearer series.
Do not confuse five different numbers
| Number type | What it measures | Common error |
|---|---|---|
| Trade flow | Goods or services bought and sold during a period | Calling exports “investment” |
| FDI inflow | New direct-investment transactions during a period | Adding it to the stock as if separate |
| FDI stock | Cumulative equity and intercompany-debt position at a date | Calling the whole position annual new money |
| Project value | Estimated cost of a named development | Assuming it is fully financed, spent or foreign-owned |
| Finance or MOU envelope | Potential capacity subject to eligibility and approval | Calling it a completed loan or awarded contract |
For example, EXIM’s US$500 million memorandum with Oman’s Ministry of Finance is a facilitation and financing framework. It is not US$500 million of deployed FDI. Similarly, the State Department’s 63 active Foreign Military Sales cases valued at US$2.72 billion as of January 2025 represent government-to-government procurement cases, not a direct-investment position.
What the data means for a business decision
- For U.S. exporters: the corridor is established, but 2026 year-to-date weakness reinforces the need for customer-level evidence rather than a national growth assumption.
- For service firms: a near-US$1 billion bilateral services corridor supports testing cross-border delivery before building a full local office.
- For Omani producers: the FTA can matter, but current U.S. product tariffs and origin evidence must be checked shipment by shipment.
- For investors: the large U.S. stock demonstrates long-duration capital, but sector concentration means it is not proof that every non-oil business model is validated.
- For policymakers: the underused opportunity is to convert services, technology and finance links into more diversified operating assets and Omani exports.
For the commercial interpretation, return to the United States–Oman business relations overview. For company-level evidence, see which U.S. companies and projects are active in Oman. The separate opportunity ranking for U.S. companies tests where these flows do—and do not—support an entry case.
Sources and data dates
- U.S. Census Bureau: Trade in Goods with Oman, 2021–July 2026
- USTR: Oman trade summary, 2025 goods and services
- USTR: Oman Free Trade Agreement
- U.S. International Trade Administration: Oman market overview, 18 December 2025
- U.S. International Trade Administration: distribution and sales channels, 18 December 2025
- Oman NCSI Data Portal: total FDI stock through Q1 2026
- Muscat Daily: preliminary NCSI FDI breakdown, 18 July 2026
- U.S. Department of State: security cooperation and active FMS cases, 20 January 2025
- U.S. BEA: direct-investment concepts and 2025 release, 21 July 2026
- USAFacts presentation of U.S. BEA bilateral trade categories, updated 21 July 2026
- White House: temporary Section 122 import surcharge, 20 February 2026
- White House: June 2026 adjustment of Section 232 metals measures
Data note: 2026 goods figures are preliminary year-to-date values. Services and FDI are released on different schedules. Recheck all live tariff and investment series before using them in a transaction model.
