U.S. Relations With Tonga
BILATERAL RELATIONS FACT SHEET
BUREAU OF EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS
U.S. Department of State
AUGUST 23, 2021
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-tonga/

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U.S.-TONGA RELATIONS

The partnership between the United States and Tonga is broad and deep based on shared values and close cooperation on matters ranging from combating the climate crisis to improving maritime security and fostering cooperation and development in the region. The Kingdom of Tonga was a protected state of the United Kingdom until 1970. It is the South Pacific’s last Polynesian kingdom, a constitutional hereditary monarchy. The United States commended Tonga for its move toward fuller democracy through the 2010 election of its first popular majority parliament and subsequent elections in 2014 and 2017, which international observers deemed free and fair, as well as its ongoing development of an active and vibrant civil society...

U.S. Assistance to Tonga

The United States is the largest single financial contributor to the COVAX Facility, from which Tonga has received approximately 48,000 COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine doses. In April 2020, USAID provided $100,000 to respond to Tropical Cyclone Harold, which caused widespread wind damage and storm surges across the country. Additionally, in May 2020, USAID provided $1 million to Act for Peace to fund protection and disaster risk reduction activities to include coordination with local organizations to conduct disaster simulation exercises and awareness on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Tonga benefits from USAID’s COVID–19 support on infection, prevention and control; risk communication; surveillance; and lab support provided through grants to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO)...

Bilateral Economic Relations

Tonga’s economy is characterized by a large non-monetary sector and a heavy dependence on remittances from the more than half of the country’s population that lives abroad, chiefly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, particularly in Utah, California, and Hawaii. The United States enjoys a trade surplus with Tonga, with two-way goods trade of approximately $17 million in 2020. Exports from Tonga are led by frozen fish and seafood and cultural handicrafts for the Tongan diaspora...

Tonga’s Membership in International Organizations

Tonga and the United States belong to many of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the Pacific Community, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme.