Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen will deliver remarks on the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic approach toward the Indo-Pacific on Thursday, November 2. Hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute, the event will take place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC at 11 PM IST. These remarks come ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers’ and APEC Economic Leaders’ Meetings in November in San Francisco. The following are excerpts from the Secretary’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

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“The Biden Administration is pursuing an approach to the Indo-Pacific that furthers our country’s long history of engagement and does justice to the region’s importance for our and the world’s future. As President Biden laid out in his Indo-Pacific Strategy, the United States is committed to an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.”

“Our economic ties underpin our approach to the Indo-Pacific. So, in my remarks today, I’ll highlight three priorities that are shaping an economic strategy in the region that is fit for this current moment: increasing trade and investment, bolstering our economic resilience, and cooperating on global challenges. And I’ll outline how we’re advancing these priorities through strategic, and intensifying, multilateral and bilateral engagements. Growth and innovation in the United States help drive the dynamism in Indo-Pacific economies, while trade and investment between the U.S. and Indo-Pacific benefit people across all our economies, including American communities and workers. As we look toward APEC later this month, let me state unequivocally: Claims that America is turning away from the Indo-Pacific are wholly unfounded. We are deepening our economic ties across the region, with tremendous potential benefits for the U.S. economy and for the Indo-Pacific.”

“First, the Biden Administration is committed to expanding our trade and investment with Indo-Pacific countries. Trade between the United States and the Indo-Pacific region has steadily increased over the past decade, reaching $2.28 trillion in 2022. It has increased over 25 percent since just 2019, despite a pandemic dip. Indeed, trade in most sectors recovered to pre-pandemic levels by 2021 and then continued to grow. Trade in computers and electronic goods reached about $435 billion in 2022, including both significant imports and exports of electronics — the result of complex, integrated supply chains. In total across goods and services, the U.S. exported about $770 billion to the region in 2022. That’s almost one-quarter of our global exports. And U.S. direct investment in the Indo-Pacific reached $866 billion in 2021. In parallel, the U.S. benefits from $956 billion in foreign direct investment from the Indo-Pacific.”

“The economic case for our expanding trade and investment is clear. The Indo-Pacific is a dynamic and rapidly growing region. As it grows, we gain a fast-expanding customer base for U.S. firms and workers. So, trade boosts production at home to serve these export markets, enabling American businesses to scale their operations and create more jobs. And jobs at export-oriented firms tend to pay more, helping generate solid, well-paying career options. For consumers, trade drives lower prices and increases choice.”

“Of course, how we pursue greater economic integration with the Indo-Pacific also matters. We are supporting American workers focused on creating a level-playing field for American workers, so that trade and investment with the Indo-Pacific continues adding to the several million American jobs it already supports. And we are pursuing economic integration while still protecting our national security interests through targeted actions where necessary. Looking ahead, increased trade and investment with the Indo-Pacific will continue to support more growth and more jobs at home, and it will fuel growth and employment in the Indo-Pacific as well.”

“Second, we see economic engagement with the Indo-Pacific as crucial to bolstering our supply chain security. Our critical supply chains are too vulnerable to risks, as the disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed. So, along with massive investments at home through the President’s economic agenda, we’re pursuing an approach I’ve called friendshoring: seeking to strengthen our economic resilience through diversifying our supply chains across a wide range of trusted allies and partners. Across the Indo-Pacific, the Administration is pursuing multilateral engagements to better coordinate supply chain efforts — from monitoring supply chain disruptions to responding to supply chain crises.”

“And, we’re making supply chains a focus of our bilateral engagements as well, such as with Vietnam. At home, greater supply chain resilience provides stability for consumers and helps ensure that our country’s economic security is not unduly reliant on just one country for many critical inputs. And achieving resilience through partnering with Indo-Pacific countries means gains for Indo-Pacific economies as well.”

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First Published:Nov 2, 2023 8:13 PM IST