Along with creating jobs at home, recent trade deals with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan could serve to project U.S. influence in a strategically vital region.
On the sidelines of the recent U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, the United States signed a raft of landmark trade deals with the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, hailed the agreements as significant boons to the American economy and job market.
According to experts, however, the deals are about more than mere economics and bilateral trade.
“These deals show that Central Asian states are willing to work closely with U.S. companies because they understand how important it is for the current U.S. administration to make deals that promote U.S. exports and create jobs,” Mamuka Tsereteli, a senior fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council, said.
But the agreements are also a means of “attracting U.S. support,” Tsereteli told The Epoch Times.
“They help the Central Asian states improve their strategic position vis-a-vis other strategic actors that are interested in the region,” he said. “They also help the United States improve its strategic position in Greater Central Asia.”
US Wheeling, Dealing
On the margins of the General Assembly meeting, which was held Sept. 23–29, Uzbekistan signed an $8.5 billion deal for the purchase of 22 Boeing 787 passenger jets for its national carrier.
The U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration described the deal as “the largest commercial aircraft agreement of its kind in Central Asia.”
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump hailed the “GREAT deal,” which he said would serve to create over 35,000 jobs in the United States.
He also heaped praise on Shavkat Mirziyoyev, his Uzbek counterpart, describing the latter as “highly respected” and a “man of his word.”
“We will continue to work together on many more items!” wrote Trump, who also briefly met with Mirziyoyev on the assembly’s sidelines.
According to Mirziyoyev’s press office, his discussion with Trump focused on “further expanding strategic partnership relations, and implementing joint cooperation projects in priority areas.”
By Adam Morrow
