WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today joined Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the launch of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity. In her closing remarks, Ambassador Tai reinforced the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to use trade to build a fair and equitable tomorrow throughout the Western Hemisphere. Ambassador Tai also underscored the importance of the Americas Partnership in deepening economic cooperation, strengthening collective resilience, and addressing today’s challenges.
Ambassador Tai’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Thank you, Secretary Blinken.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all my fellow ministers for their thoughtful insights. I’m confident that, together, we can build a fair and equitable tomorrow for our citizens and bring lasting change. I’m grateful to have all of you as partners as we begin this endeavor.
When he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, President Biden said that “the United States is opening an era of relentless diplomacy to address the challenges that matter most to people’s lives – all people’s lives.”
Trade is a critical part of this relentless diplomacy.
All of us are here to drive sustainable and inclusive economic growth for all our people. We share this goal because we know that our well-being and economic security are inextricably linked.
To advance our vision for a human-centric approach to trade, all twelve of our economies must be in this together – to deepen our economic cooperation, strengthen our collective resilience, and advance democracy and shared prosperity.
The Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity is the United States’ commitment to our hemisphere. As neighbors, this is just the beginning of how we intend to take steps forward – together – for all our citizens.
This is not to say that this will be easy. We all know the challenges we face. Many of our economies are still recovering from the COVID pandemic, and global inflation – exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – is straining families’ budgets.
But there is also opportunity – to work as teammates for our collective future. And we intend to seize it.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. Strengthening our supply chains, lifting up our small businesses, creating green jobs, reinvigorating our financial institutions – these are all priorities that we’ll focus on as we begin to fill in the details.
Let’s come together and demonstrate that we can use trade as a force for good, and use this Partnership as a new model for others in the region to join.
Thank you again, and I look forward to working with all of you in the months ahead.
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