Rubio pushes for stronger US-Iceland trade ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were real opportunities for a bilateral trade agreement with Iceland during a visit on Tuesday, mbl.is reported. He also pledged follow-up, including bringing US companies to Iceland to explore investment opportunities and helping Icelandic businesses operate in the United States.

Rubio said Iceland was important not only to the two countries’ security partnership but also to their shared economic interests. He pointed to Icelandic expertise in geothermal energy, biotechnology and fisheries as opportunities for more trade and technology cooperation.

He also stressed Iceland’s strategic importance to NATO, saying its location had become even more significant amid a changing security environment. The United States was open to expanding defence cooperation in Iceland, he said, but any steps would be taken in consultation with the Icelandic government.

Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir said after the meetings that Rubio wanted to strengthen ties between the countries and increase NATO’s presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

Rubio met Þorgerður Katrín at Höfði, where he also viewed the building that hosted a 1986 summit between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He later met Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir and Þorgerður Katrín at the Culture House on Hverfisgata. The visit began on Monday evening and Rubio left Iceland around midday on Tuesday.

Rubio said Iceland had long played a key role in NATO’s collective defence because of its location between the United States, Europe and the Arctic. Iceland contributes to the defence partnership despite having no military, he said. The visit came 75 years after the countries signed their defence agreement in 1951.