Belize: Trade Partnerships

Belize maintains a highly open, trade-dependent economy, and as of 2026 the United States remains its leading trading partner, accounting for the largest share of both the country's exports, including sugar, citrus products, and marine goods, and its imports of fuel, machinery, and manufactured goods. Belize's position at the junction of the Caribbean and Central America also gives it an unusually broad set of secondary trade relationships, spanning the United Kingdom, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, and China.

Belize is a member of both the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and, unlike most other CARICOM states, maintains close institutional ties to the Central American Integration System (SICA), a position that has led regional organizations to describe Belize as a historic bridge between the two sub-regions. This dual orientation shapes Belize's trade relationships with its immediate neighbors, Guatemala and Mexico, both of which rank among its leading trading partners alongside longer-standing Caribbean and transatlantic ties.

Belize is a member of the World Trade Organization and, together with other CARIFORUM states, is party to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, which has been in effect since 2008 and provides preferential, reduced-tariff access for Belizean exports such as sugar and citrus. The country has also incorporated trade policy into a broader National Trade Policy framework adopted for the 2019-2030 period, reflecting an effort to formalize how its export sectors engage with these overlapping regional and multilateral trade relationships.