Page | 61U.S.-Mongolian Relations
The United States and Mongolia did not formally
establish diplomatic relations until January
1987.^323 Until then, Mongolia’s sensitive
relationship with the Soviet Union, its economic
and military patron, hindered the development of
relations with the United States, considered a
Soviet ideological adversary during most of the
Cold War era. The Government of Taiwan, a U.S.
ally, also complicated recognition efforts by its
continued insistence that Mongolia was part of
mainland China and not an independent state.^324
Beginning in 1989 and continuing through the peaceful transition to democracy in 1990,
the U.S. began to develop cultural and economic ties with Mongolia. The two nations
forged a trade agreement in 1991, followed by an investment agreement in 1994.
Between 1991 and 2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has
funded USD 214 million worth of programs in Mongolia. These programs aim to help
foster private-sector economic growth and to strengthen government institutions.
325, (^326) In
2007, Mongolia signed a USD 285 million compact with the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, an independent U.S. foreign aid agency providing large grants for “country-
led solutions for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.”^327
Trade between Mongolia and the United States has dropped since the Agreement on
Textiles and Clothing expired at the end of 2004. Up until 2007, Mongolia was a net
Mongolia,
for its part, has committed to five programs under their compact that aim (1) to increase
access to vocational education training; (2) to improve the nation’s land tenure and land
purchasing system so as to provide greater opportunities for generating income; (3) to
improve the key North–South Highway; (4) to better detect and treat non-communicable
diseases and injuries; and (5) to provide greater energy efficiency and lowered air
pollution in Ulaanbaatar.
(^323) Richard Halloran, “U.S. and Mongolia in Ceremony Establishing Diplomatic Relations,” New York
Times, 28 January 1987, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/28/world/us-and-mongolia-in-ceremony-
establishing-diplomatic-relations.html?ref=mongolia
(^324) Neil A. Lewis, “Washington Talk: Diplomacy; Yes, a Mission in Mongolia,” New York Times, 3 July
1987, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/03/us/washington-talk-diplomacy-yes-a-mission-in-
mongolia.html?ref=mongolia
(^325) Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Mongolia,” 8
March 2011, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2779.htm
(^326) Kerry Dumbaugh, Congressional Research Service, “Mongolia and U.S. Policy: Political and Economic
Relations,” 22 June 2007, 9, http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl34056.pdf
(^327) Millennium Challenge Corporation, “About MCC,” n.d., http://www.mcc.gov/pages/about