U.S.–GCC Trade & Investment Advisory Project: 

 

From 2014-2022, I directed a research and advisory program on U.S. trade and investment with the six Gulf Cooperation Council states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates - on behalf of the Middle Eastern Council of American Chambers of Commerce (MECACC), the representative body for more than 950 American businesses operating in the region.

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The program combined original economic analysis with direct policy engagement: building state- and country-level trade models from U.S. Census Bureau data, producing annual forecasts of U.S. export activity to the region, and translating that analysis into the briefing materials MECACC uses with members of Congress and executive branch officials.

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Our Partner Organization:

The Middle Eastern Council of American Chambers of Commerce (MECACC).  MECACC represents American Chambers of Commerce in the Gulf Region of the Middle East, and as such MECACC is the representative of more than 950 American businesses active in the countries listed above, where it fosters U.S. business activities and has established itself as the voice of American business in the Gulf Region. 

 

Supporting Team: 

Research and data collection are carried out by a small team I recruit and train each year, giving the program continuity and fresh analytical capacity annually.  University students have the opportunity to gain academic credit for their work on this project, for example as a two or three credit Economics internship, and/or as the basis for an Independent Study research project in Economics.

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How the analysis is used: 

Each year, MECACC's member companies meet with congressional offices in Washington, D.C. to make the case that Gulf trade matters to the U.S. economy. My role is to make that case specific: for each state, what does trade with the Gulf actually mean in export dollars and jobs. That state-level framing turns a foreign policy argument into an economic one for the specific member of Congress in the room.

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I have presented this research at the Future of U.S.-GCC Trade and Investment policy briefing, co-sponsored by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and MECACC, in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

 

Below are the state and country level trade data used for the (delayed due to COVID-19) 2020 doorknock.   

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All export data is collected from the U.S. Census Bureau's 'Origin of Movement' series, which seeks to measure state exports on the basis of where the final good begins its journey- i.e. as much as possible, we are capturing where the goods are produced, not where they are shipped from.  This also means that only final goods, not intermediate goods, are recorded in the data.  

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There are also four additional pieces of analysis: a list of states which had the GCC as a top 15 export destination in 2020, a list of states which had individual GCC member states as a top 20 export market in 2020, my forecast for U.S. trade to the region, and data regarding how U.S. exports are related to good paying U.S. jobs.

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Also included below is the most recent briefing paper by MECACC regarding U.S. trade competitiveness and GCC's unique position as a strategic partner for U.S. trade, security, and diplomacy.

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Click on any button to open the relevant state/country report or additional data as a .pdf file.

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Below are the current state, country, and forecast reports.