Aberdeen, Scotland – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today joined United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan to kick off the U.S. – UK Dialogue on the Future of Atlantic Trade. In her remarks at the opening plenary, Ambassador Tai highlighted the successful first meeting in Baltimore and emphasized the shared commitment of the United States and the United Kingdom to develop innovative trade policies that create inclusive economic opportunity for workers and businesses.
The full text of Ambassador Tai’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Good morning, everyone. I want to begin by thanking Secretary Trevelyan for that introduction and for hosting us in Aberdeen today.
Last month, I had the honor of hosting Secretary Trevelyan in the United States, where we launched the Dialogues on the Future of Atlantic Trade with a visit to the Port of Baltimore. We learned more about the mechanics of this 316-year-old American institution, which is integral in delivering goods to U.S. consumers and sending our products to markets around the world.
Yesterday, we kicked off the second Dialogue in Aberdeen by sampling one of the UK’s biggest exports: scotch. It was a fitting start, because the United States is the top global importer of scotch. And after the recent steel and aluminum deal, we found a few bottles of American whiskey around Aberdeen.
When Secretary Trevelyan and I first met in Baltimore, I said it would be an opportunity to “identify mutual trade priorities and discuss how we can promote innovation and inclusive economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.”
My optimism about what we can achieve together is rooted in the strength of the U.S.-UK bilateral trade relationship, which has only grown stronger after we successfully negotiated a resolution to the large civil aircraft dispute, a global minimum tax deal, and an agreement steel and aluminum trade.
Since we met in Baltimore last month, we have enhanced our cooperation even further through our efforts to ostracize Russia from the world’s multilateral institutions and punish Putin for the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Our countries share a commitment to democracy, to defending the rights of our citizens, and to standing up against autocracies that attempt to undermine our national interests.
Just as we did in Baltimore, over the next two days, we will explore how we can create concrete, economically meaningful outcomes for our workers and businesses.
We will hear from a wide range of stakeholders on how we can ensure our trade relationship creates broad-based economic opportunity while meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
We will identify ways we can maintain our global competitive edge and protect our joint economic interests from the unfair economic policies and practices of China and other non-market economies.
And we will visit some of the most innovative and exciting businesses in the United Kingdom. Earlier today, we visited Enpro Subsea, a Scotland firm that is using state-of-the-art technology to improve offshore energy extraction in a responsible manner.
Our countries both face the global challenge of building more resilient energy supply chains, while improving our resiliency and sustainability to tackle the climate crisis. We want our trade policies to help businesses like Enpro Subsea compete on a level playing field and succeed in the global marketplace.
We have an ambitious agenda, and it helps to have an ambitious partner like Secretary Trevelyan. You have been a trusted and respected ally of the United States, and I am excited to continue this dialogue with you.
I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish over the next two days, and in the months ahead.
Thank you.
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