Ivory Coast–United States relations

United States-Côte d'Ivoire relations are bilateral international relations between the United States and Côte d'Ivoire.

Côte d'Ivoire's relationship with the U.S. was cordial, if less intimate than its ties with its former colonizer France. Through the mid-1980s, Côte d'Ivoire was one of Africa's most loyal supporter of the United States in the United Nations General Assembly. It supported the larger United States agenda on Chad, the Western Sahara, South Africa, and Israel. The government strongly approved of moves by the United States against Muammar al-Qaddafi, especially in light of rumors that Libyans in Burkina Faso were recruiting and training agents to infiltrate Côte d'Ivoire. United States Secretary of State George P. Shultz visited Abidjan in 1986 following Félix Houphouët-Boigny's visit to Washington, D.C. in 1983.

The United States continued to be Côte d'Ivoire's leading trading partner, after France. During the Cold War foreign policymakers in Washington continued to point to Côte d'Ivoire as an exemplar of successful capitalism, even as Côte d'Ivoire's foreign debt mounted out of control. While enjoying a favorable image in the United States, Houphouët-Boigny has indirectly criticized the United States by attacking the system of international trade, which the United States supported unequivocally, but which Houphouët-Boigny claimed was responsible for his country's economic ills.

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