Relationship dossier
Malta
United States
Relationship assessment
Practical cooperation on investment, tax information, and travel
Malta toward United States
+30Malta entered into a bilateral investment treaty with the United States and agreed to facilitate tax-information exchange under a US-Malta intergovernmental agreement.
United States toward Malta
+30The United States maintains investment and tax-information arrangements with Malta and included Malta in its Visa Waiver Program, allowing eligible Maltese travelers to seek short-term admission without a visa.
Overall relationship
+30The relationship is characterized by practical, institutional cooperation, particularly in investment, tax-information exchange, and travel. These arrangements provide a durable basis for cooperation, although its breadth in security and other policy areas is less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Malta and the United States maintain practical cooperation, including a bilateral investment treaty and an agreement facilitating tax-information exchange. Malta’s participation in the US Visa Waiver Program also reflects a concrete US policy arrangement. These measures support a cooperative relationship, though its scope and implementation across other areas are not fully clear.
Key developments
The US-Malta bilateral investment treaty entered into force.
Malta was included in the United States Visa Waiver Program.
Malta and the United States concluded an intergovernmental agreement on tax-information exchange.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of security and law-enforcement cooperation are unclear.
- The breadth of bilateral cooperation beyond investment, tax, and travel arrangements is uncertain.