Trade and Commerce
Trade & Commerce
Business and Commerce
General Information
The Economic and Commercial Section promotes opportunities for American business in Iceland. The section also reports to the U.S. government on the Icelandic economy, and provides a commercial service for Icelanders interested in business with U.S. companies.
Economic Relationship
Since WWII, the U.S. and Iceland have had a strong economic relationship. U.S. goods, services, and franchises are very popular, with Icelanders buying twice as much from the U.S per capita than does the average EU citizen. The U.S. buys a significant amount of Icelandic fish products, and increasingly high tech manufactured goods and services. U.S. sales to Iceland are currently particularly robust, attributable in good measure to the current weakness of the dollar. Bilateral Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) activity is picking up rapidly, and within about five years, U.S. investment in Iceland will likely approach $2 billion, primarily in the aluminum industry. Icelandic investment in the U.S. has also picked up of late, with major pharmaceutical, biomedical, and fish-related operations acquired by Icelandic firms. Iceland’s membership in the European Economic Area (EEA) poses challenges for the two countries to maintain -- and hopefully continue to expand -- trade and investment activity. Nonetheless, our nations’ historical closeness, and liberal economic philosophies and practices, will help ensure the economic relationship continues to thrive.
Environment, Science, Technology, and Health (‘EST&H’) Relationship
For its size, Iceland is a hotbed of scientific research, and U.S.-Iceland research cooperation is very active in a number of areas. In 2002 our countries signed a “Letter of Intent” agreement to encourage greater bilateral bio-medical research. Many U.S. and Icelandic academic researchers cooperate in a variety of medical fields. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has committed significant financial resources to bilateral research with Iceland’s Heart Association, and with deCODE Genetics Company, and has provided smaller grants to a number of other Icelandic medical researchers. Iceland’s location, straddling the Mid Atlantic Ridge, makes the country a virtual laboratory for examining the geological forces that are shaping our planet. U.S. agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have taken a particular interest in conducting cooperative geosciences research in Iceland. The NSF and Iceland’s research council ‘RANNIS’ concluded a research agreement in 2000. Iceland’s national commitment to becoming one of, if not the first “hydrogen economy” in the world, has caught the attention and imagination of those in the U.S. (and elsewhere) involved in alternative, sustainable energy development. Iceland’s preparations for a hydrogen future earned the country membership in the U.S.-led International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) Initiative – a 15-nation group working to make the hydrogen economy a reality as soon as economically and technologically feasible. Another area where our research communities have cooperated closely is the study of scientific, environmental and societal issues and developments affecting the Arctic region. For example, our countries cooperated closely on the preparation of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) report, the results of which were announced at the November 2004 Arctic Council Ministerial in Reykjavik.
Economics & Science