WASHINGTON – Ambassador Katherine Tai and the Office of the United States Trade Representative today delivered President Biden’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda and 2022 Annual Report to Congress. This report details USTR’s work to implement the Biden Administration’s trade priorities and advance an inclusive, worker-centered trade policy.
Over the last year, Ambassador Tai and USTR, working with partners across the Biden Administration, have implemented our new approach to trade policy that grows the middle class, addresses inequality, and helps solve today’s greatest challenges, including tackling the climate crisis and promoting fair competition. Ambassador Tai and USTR have made significant progress on new and historic agreements with our allies and partners and are leading on the world stage to pursue shared priorities and values.
Key elements of the 2023 Trade Policy Agenda and 2022 Annual Report include:
Engaging with Key Trading Partners and Multilateral Institutions: The United States is leading on the world stage with a positive economic vision, and we are collaborating with partners that share our goals – growing the middle class, redressing inequality, and incentivizing climate and environmental action. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity are top priorities for the Administration in 2023 to implement this vision, as well as our initiatives with Kenya and Taiwan.
The United States is also stepping up engagement in multilateral institutions and international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization. We will continue our collaboration to make trade work for more people, and will work with partners to reform institutions as needed to achieve a more resilient and just global economy.
Additionally, the United States is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2023. We will use this opportunity to strengthen our relationships with economies throughout the region and work together on shared priorities that impact our people.
Standing up for Workers’ Rights: Workers are at the center of our trade policy, and the Biden Administration continues to be laser-focused on using trade to empower workers. We are using the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement to enforce workers’ rights and drive a race to the top in North America. We are also seeking high-standard labor commitments throughout our new trade initiatives. Strengthening labor rights will benefit American workers, as well as workers all over the world.
Accelerating Decarbonization and Promoting Sustainable Environmental Practices: Combating the climate crisis and promoting sustainable environmental practices continue to be top priorities for the Biden Administration. Trade is an indispensable tool to achieve these goals, and we will continue to use a range of available tools to advance our environmental goals and combat climate change.
Our work with the European Union on the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum remains a top priority. This arrangement will drive decarbonization while also limiting anti-competitive and non-market practices that contribute to worldwide excess capacity.
Supporting U.S. Agriculture: The Biden Administration recognizes that farmers, ranchers, producers, processors, fishers, and food manufacturers are central to our worker-centered trade policy. From 2000 to 2022, annual U.S. agricultural exports grew from $58 billion to a record $202 billion, and we are achieving economically meaningful wins for this important sector. We are also creating new opportunities for American agriculture, including through our new initiatives and existing agreements.
Bolstering Supply Chain Resiliency: The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by Russia’s unjustified and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, illustrated the dangers of concentrated supply chains and inadequate consideration of geopolitical risk in making sourcing decisions. That is why strengthening our supply chains is critical to create sustainable economic growth, and ensure that the system is more resilient in the face of supply shocks. Following President Biden’s Executive Order 14017 (America’s Supply Chains), USTR is actively engaged and coordinated with like-minded partners to develop durable solutions that advance supply chain resilience in critical areas such as semiconductors, large capacity batteries, critical minerals and materials, and pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Re-Aligning the U.S.-China Trade Relationship: The U.S.-China economic and trade relationship is one of profound consequence. As the two largest economies in the world, our bilateral engagement affects not just the two participants, but the entire globe. We recognize that relationship is complex and competitive. The Biden Administration will continue to use all available tools to ensure that China competes fairly. We are actively working with like-minded partners to fight against China’s unfair, anticompetitive practices, which harm workers and businesses in the United States and in other countries. At the same time, the Administration is making historic investments here at home – including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – to allow us to compete from a position of strength.
Promoting Confidence in Trade Policy Through Enforcement: The Biden Administration has been vigorously enforcing our trade agreements to combat unfair, non-market practices, defend American jobs, and create broad-based economic prosperity. American workers and businesses can compete with anyone when the playing field is level and competition is fair, and trade policy is an indispensable tool in achieving those goals. This includes enforcing labor and environmental standards, ensuring that regulations are science-based and predictable, and protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights.
Advancing Equitable, Inclusive, and Durable Trade Policy and Expanding Stakeholder Engagement: The Biden Administration is committed to realizing equitable and resilient economic growth for all Americans, especially underserved and marginalized communities. To ensure that our trade policies are durable and equitable, we are expanding and sustaining our engagement with more communities, enhancing our understanding of how trade has affected American workers, and incorporating more voices into our policymaking process.
The United States will continue working with trade partners to advance racial and gender equity, equality, and economic empowerment through trade. The Biden Administration will also continue efforts to improve the scope, granularity, and quality of data and expand research and analytical tools to better inform U.S. trade policy.
Resource: President Biden’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda and 2022 Annual Report to Congress
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