Honduras: Trade Partnerships

Honduras built its modern trade profile around the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which took effect in 2006 and eliminated tariffs on the large majority of goods traded with the United States and other Central American signatories. The country's export base centers on coffee, bananas, palm oil, shrimp, and lobster, along with a substantial apparel and textile manufacturing sector that assembles garments and automotive wire harnesses largely for the US market.

As of 2026, the United States remains Honduras's largest trading partner by a wide margin, accounting for more than a third of the country's total trade, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. China and Mexico round out Honduras's next-largest trading relationships, while El Salvador and Guatemala remain significant partners within Central America's regional trade network. CAFTA-DR continues to underpin this structure, giving Honduran exporters preferential access to the US market that has helped more than double bilateral trade since the agreement's early years.

Honduras's economy remains closely tied to US economic conditions, both through direct trade and through remittances sent home by Hondurans working abroad, making the country highly sensitive to shifts in American demand and immigration policy. The maquila, or assembly manufacturing, sector built around CAFTA-DR preferences continues to be one of the country's largest sources of formal employment.