US has been amongst the top five principal trading partners and Fiji’s number one export destination for the past five years says Industry and Trade Minister Premila Kumar.

Kumar says the two-way trade between the two countries was worth $510.4 million last year.

Fijian products such as bottled water, tuna, cane sugar, taro, ginger and pre-packed food items has already entered the U.S market.

Kumar says a major success story is the export of Fijian Kava, which has increased by over 400% since 2015.

However, Kumar says tremendous amount of potential exists to further expand the products exported.

“A major portion of Fiji’s trade with the U.S is administered under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme. Products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the scheme include manufactured items, chemicals, minerals and building stone, jewelry and certain agricultural and fisheries products.”

Kumar says there are many other Fijian Made and Fijian Grown products that can be presented to the U.S. consumer.

These include fashion and cosmetic items, pearls, agri-products targeting the Fijian diaspora and the organic market.