US, Asean seek balanced trade partnership at economic ministers' meeting

The Star

The United States is seeking balanced and reciprocal trade with Asean, said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during the AEM-USTR Consultation at the Asean Economic Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (Sept 24).  Greer said the US values Asean as a key trading partner and welcomes continued engagement, noting Asean’s April commitment to strengthen dialogue with Washington — a move that has led to ongoing discussions in recent months.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/nc8sfe5t  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00ASEAN is an important and consequential partner for the United States.

00:10Our combined population is over one billion.

00:14And as you mentioned, the total trade in goods and services is nearly half a trillion dollars.

00:20And actually, if you look at our numbers, I think it's higher than half a trillion.

00:24You mentioned there's a 16% increase in ASEAN's exports to the United States.

00:29We, of course, welcome trade.

00:31We hope, however, that it is balanced and reciprocal.

00:35We believe that there are many areas where our interests align,

00:38and we can work together to achieve shared goals of bringing reciprocity and balance to the global trading system.

00:44We also recognize ASEAN's affirmative statement in April to approach the U.S. initiative

00:52from a framework of understanding and discussion, and that has been borne out over the past few months.

00:58Over the past few months, under President Trump's leadership,

01:01I've had the privilege to have good conversations with many of you around the room

01:05on ways to improve access to our respective markets, remove non-tariff barriers,

01:09address unfair trade practices, and strengthen economic and national security cooperation.

01:15For some, this has already resulted in deals being announced, and many are being finalized,

01:20and some are in the pipeline.

01:22President Trump and myself are proud of the work we have done together on these deals

01:25and expect to finalize these agreements in the coming months or even weeks for some.

01:30And I look forward to today's consultation on how the United States and ASEAN collectively

01:35can continue to work together to advance fair and balanced trade between our countries,

01:40and together we can create a prosperous world economy and improve the lives of all our people.

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