MODERATOR: Greetings from the US State Department’s Asia-Pacific Media Center. I would like to welcome our participants who come from the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Today we are honored to host an official briefing with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai. Ambassador Tai will discuss the Biden administration’s close partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the administration’s continued commitment to the region. Ambassador Tai will answer questions from participating journalists after her opening remarks.
I will now turn it over to Ambassador Tai for her opening remarks. The floor is yours.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Thank you very much and greetings from Cambodia. It is really great to be here in Siem Reap for the annual ASEAN-USTR Economic Ministers Consultation. As many of you know, last year’s consultation took place virtually, so it is especially wonderful to be here in person representing the United States and the Biden administration.
My trip to Cambodia comes at a time when we are witnessing unprecedented cooperation between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN represents the fourth largest market in the world. US-ASEAN trade in goods and services totaled nearly $442 billion in 2021, an increase of 22 percent compared to the previous year. In May of this year, President Biden hosted ASEAN leaders in Washington, D.C. for a special summit – a historic gathering where we reaffirmed our commitment to Southeast Asia and its people. As the president noted during the summit, the United States’ relationship with ASEAN countries will have significant importance not only today, but for the next half century and beyond.
And that’s why our administration has announced $150 million in initiatives to deepen the US-ASEAN relationship, including investments in clean energy infrastructure, training programs, private sector support, and educational and cultural exchanges. This investment builds on the $102 million investment the President announced at the annual US-ASEAN Summit in October 2021 to improve cooperation in health, climate science, trade facilitation and more.
And that brings us to today. Later this afternoon, I will lead the US delegation to our annual ASEAN-USTR Economic Ministerial Consultation. We will hear from ASEAN members as well as private sector representatives and stakeholders on how our trade agenda can support investment and economic growth across the region. We have strengthened the open line of dialogue with ASEAN from President Biden (inaudible).
This has only become more important since the pandemic and it is vital that we provide resources and assistance to help our business owners compete and succeed. Earlier this year, we reaffirmed the importance of labor standards and environmental protection for all our peoples and pledged continued cooperation under the ASEAN-US Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment. This spring, we concluded the second US-ASEAN Trade and Labor Dialogue in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development and the United States Department of Labor. This dialogue brought together labor and trade officials to discuss the importance of respecting workers’ rights through trade agreements and how our agenda can support workforce development in the digital economy. These achievements are part of the Biden administration’s effort to create a global race to the top in trade that supports workers’ rights, protects the planet and creates increased prosperity for all.
I look forward to more robust discussions with our ASEAN partners today and to continuing this important strategic engagement in the months and years ahead. Thank you and I will be happy to answer a few questions.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Ambassador Tai. We will now begin the question and answer portion of today’s call. Our first question, sent in advance, goes to JKN-CNBC’s Wichit Chaitrong in Bangkok, who asks, “How are US policies affecting supply chains in ASEAN?”
AMBASSADOR TAI: Well, thank you for that question. We’ve all been thinking a lot about supply chains in the last few years, haven’t we? I think the fact is that in a globalized economy, the policies that come out of each of our countries affect the supply chains that we have between us. And that is why the engagement we bring through the ASEAN-U.S. The consultations on the Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment, which we will have later today, are very important.
In our consultations, we focus on improving our cooperation and working together on trade facilitation, on trade and labour, on trade and the environment, as well as on digital trade. These engagements provide us with really important opportunities to rebuild supply chains together that are more resilient and sustainable and focused on driving increased prosperity as we all build our economies out of the disruption we’ve experienced so much in the past few years due to COVID and other factors.
MODERATOR: Our next question, sent in advance, goes to Danh Le of VnExpress in Vietnam, who asks, “Can you update how the infrastructure development initiatives in Southeast Asia, announced in May at the ASEAN-U.S. Is there a special summit?”
AMBASSADOR TAI: Yes, I will be happy to. thanks for the question Let me try to step back and explain the historic infrastructure investments that President Biden announced at the US-ASEAN special summit in May were specifically around three areas related to infrastructure.
First, that we will secure a $40 million investment to mobilize $2 billion in combined financing for clean energy infrastructure in Southeast Asia. This will increase regional energy trade and accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies.
Second, the US Department of Transportation will launch air, land, and maritime transportation programs to promote sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
And third, the US Trade and Development Agency will launch new programs to catalyze more than $13 billion in financing for clean energy projects to advance ASEAN’s net zero goals. They also enable public and private financing of digital infrastructure to the tune of one billion dollars across the region.
These programs and initiatives are implemented in the federal government. I will leave the specific updates on those programs to the lead agencies, but as you can see, we are taking a whole-of-government approach to strengthen and deepen our ties with ASEAN and the region.
MODERATOR: All right, our next question goes to Tran Hoang from Zing News in Vietnam. Operator, please open the line.
QUESTION: I’m here. Can you hear me?
QUESTION: Okay. So, I’m Hoang from Zing News, Vietnam, and I have a question: How does the United States view Vietnam’s role as the US develops ties with Asian countries, and what does the United States expect after strengthening ties for a comprehensive strategic partnership with the Asian nation? Thank you.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Thank you. Let me repeat the question because I had a bit of a hearing problem. I think the first part of the question was how the United States views Vietnam’s role in ASEAN, and I’m not sure I understood the second question.
QUESTION: The second question is what the United States expects after strengthening cooperation with ASEAN to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Excuse me, I – may I – Catherine?
HOST: Okay, let me – let me (inaudible) and – yes, excuse me.
QUESTION: I emailed a question earlier.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Well, to begin with—
MODERATOR: Let me go… I can go ahead. Oh okay. Thank you, Mr. Hoang. I see – I can read it again. “How does the United States view Vietnam’s role as the US develops ties with ASEAN countries and what does the US expect after strengthening ties in a comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN?”
AMBASSADOR TAI: Okay, thank you very much. Apologies for the technical difficulties. I have seen my Vietnamese colleagues in a number of different contexts over the past year and a half, sometimes via video due to emergency and COVID, and occasionally in person, I think the last time was in Los Angeles last week. And I had the pleasure of meeting the Prime Minister in May in Washington, D.C. Our experience in — through our agency, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, has been extremely positive with Vietnam. We see Vietnam as an extremely constructive partner that is clear in its views and really creative in its views in terms of building our relationship and playing a very important role within ASEAN. ASEAN is an organization of 10 countries. There is tremendous diversity within ASEAN, and the strength of the US-Vietnam relationship is indeed an asset to US engagement in ASEAN as a whole. We really appreciate Vietnam’s partnership and leadership in our — building our engagement.
And I think the other question is that our vision of engagement is not only to work to unlock the potential for economic growth and human development here in Southeast Asia through our engagement with ASEAN, but also to unlock the connections and connections between the United States and with Asia — this region Southeast Asia. And just to share with you, some of the engagements that I have in the United States with the Southeast Asian American diaspora communities show some of the strength of our people-to-people ties and our cultural ties that I’m very much looking forward to building through our economic engagement as well as with ASEAN.
MODERATOR: Our next question goes to Li Xiang from Shijieguan.net in Hong Kong. Operator, please open the line.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks for giving me the opportunity to ask a question. First, there are two voices in the Biden administration on the issue of tariffs against China. On the one hand, they believe that punitive tariffs on China should continue, but there is also a majority – more voices who believe that a trade war between China and the United States is harming the interests of the United States and ends up with Americans paying the bill. Can you confirm whether the United States will remove any tariffs on China in the near future? And is the US Indo-Pacific economic strategy a tool to contain and against China? Thank you.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Well, thank you for asking this important question, because even though China is not in Southeast Asia, I know that China is actually an important part of the world economy and also the economy in this region. Let me just address the part of your question where you mentioned punitive measures against China and the trade war. Let me be very, very clear: these actions that we have taken with respect to China, and in particular the tariffs, which are getting a lot of attention, are not punitive in nature. The United States is not punishing China with tariffs, and I think that’s very important to point out because tariffs are just a trade tool. They can be used in many different ways. In some contexts they are used as sanctions. These are not sanctioning tariffs. The tariffs that were abolished in 2018 were actually rebalancing tariffs; they are tariffs that try to level the playing field to overcome the unfairness that we have seen and the impact on the US economy. So that’s a legal fact, but it’s also a political fact.
In terms of the Indo-Pacific strategy, especially as I am the US Trade Representative, let me address our Indo-Pacific economic engagement, either through our consultations with the ASEAN countries here or at the EAS Economic Ministers meeting that took place yesterday when I came here to participate in or through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework exercises in which we are involved. All of these engagements are aimed at focusing on the economies here in the Indo-Pacific because these are important relationships and I know from speaking to my colleagues in Beijing that they also value these relationships, and Beijing is also economically and more broadly engaged in this region. And I think that just goes to show how important this region is and how focused these economies and the world are on helping to unlock the potential here.
MODERATOR: We have time for one more question. The last question was directed to Lu Yihsuan of The Liberty Times in Taiwan. Operator, please open the line.
QUESTION: Hello, hello. Can you hear me?
QUESTION: Emily Lu of The Liberty Times, Taipei. I would like to ask, about a month has passed since the United States and Taiwan announced formal negotiations on the 21st Century Trade Initiative. And I wanted to ask if you could share any progress of the negotiations? And when will the first round of negotiations take place? Thank you.
AMBASSADOR TAI: Catherine? Catherine, can I ask for your help? I got the first part of the question again and it was a little hard to hear.
MODERATOR: I believe the question is about the status of trade negotiations and, Emily, is that when we might be able to reach an agreement? Is that correct?
QUESTION: Yes, when will the first round be?
MODERATOR: When will the first round be?
AMBASSADOR TAI: Okay. So, as you can see, we are very busy in Washington, and especially in our agency. This is really an era of engagement for us. So earlier this year we also announced the 21st Century Initiative on trade with Taiwan, and a few weeks ago we announced that negotiations were the next step.
So I expect that there will be negotiations soon. I don’t have a specific date for you. And as for the specifics of how this conversation and engagement will develop, I can say that there is great motivation on both sides in our engagement throughout the region and throughout the world. We believe that all of our partners are willing and motivated in large part due to the global economic disruptions that we have all experienced and are still experiencing over the past few years – whether it’s COVID, supply chain disruptions, or even the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy supplies , to food security – I think we all recognize that right now there is a really huge opportunity and necessity for our economies to come together to find ways to work together and help each other have a strong economic recovery. And that’s what we do and we are – we work tirelessly on it because it’s really important for our people and the people of the world.
MODERATOR: I understand we have time for one more question, so that will go to Brett Fortnam from Inside U.S. Trade. Operator, please open the line.
QUESTION: Great. Thank you very much for the invitation. I have a question about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework since it is so important to the US relationship with many ASEAN partners. Plus – I’ve heard a lot about the potential early harvest for that deal and I was wondering what USTR’s priorities are if so – would it only consider the digital aspect or is it looking for something more balanced that includes labor and environmental standards as well?
AMBASSADOR TAI: Well, Brett, it’s great to hear your voice. And if you’re on the east coast and in Washington, thanks for calling in the middle of the night. I appreciate your question. As for the early harvest, I think you mean the early delivery which is less than the full scope of what we announced. I don’t know if you’re just talking about the trade pillar or the whole segment, but I’ll interpret your question as focusing on the trade pillar, which we run at USTR.
Let me just say this: we just started – (laughter) – our ministers’ meeting last week in Los Angeles. Therefore, I think it is quite early to talk about an early harvest. We go into this with a lot of ambition, and again, with a lot of motivation. So our focus is really to make sure that we engage firmly in all the components of the trade pillar because they are all important. And we’ll see – we’ll see how quickly we can get to our deliveries. We are focused on speed, agility, but also on practicality.
So I appreciate your question, even though it seems a bit premature.
MODERATOR: Okay. That concludes today’s call. I would like to thank Ambassador Tai for joining us today and thank all the visitors for their participation.
