Trinidad and Tobago: Trade Partnerships

Trinidad and Tobago's trade partnerships are built around its position as the Caribbean's leading hydrocarbon producer, with energy and petrochemical exports, including natural gas, ammonia, methanol, and refined petroleum, long dominating the country's foreign trade. As the largest economy in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) by several measures, Trinidad and Tobago also supplies refined fuel and manufactured goods to many of its regional neighbors, even where those shipments represent a small share of its overall export value.

As of 2022, the United States was by far Trinidad and Tobago's largest export market, according to World Bank trade data, receiving more than two-fifths of total exports, chiefly petrochemicals and liquefied natural gas. Belgium, Morocco, Spain, and Brazil rounded out the top five destinations that year, reflecting the global reach of the country's ammonia and methanol shipments rather than any single regional trade relationship.

On the import side, the United States again ranked first as of 2022, supplying roughly two-fifths of Trinidad and Tobago's imports, followed by China, Brazil, Canada, and Turkey. Trinidad and Tobago is a founding member of CARICOM and the World Trade Organization, and its petrochemical exports have historically made it an important supplier of refined fuel within the wider Caribbean, even as its bilateral trade data is dominated by larger markets outside the region.