The United States is the largest export market of the six older ASEAN members, the association's leading trading nations. It is their second biggest source of imports, after Japan. In the period 1995- 2003, the cumulative total of U.S. investments in ASEAN was US$35.717 billion, topping Japan's and those of individual EU members. By virtue of its importance as a trading partner and source of investments, it is almost unthinkable for the United States not to be a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN. Indeed, it was one of the first six ASEAN Dialogue Partners, becoming one in 1977.