Carper’s First Trade Panel Hearing to Focus on Re-engaging Asia-Pacific Trading Partners

Hearing on the heels of a Sunday Washington Post op-ed on Chinese trade practices, engagement in region

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, June 22, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) will hold his first hearing as Chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness to examine the strategic benefits of a multilateral approach to trade policy in the Asia-Pacific. This hearing comes shortly after a letter that Chairman Carper and Ranking Member John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai calling for the U.S. to reassert trade leadership in the Asia-Pacific region by engaging again with allies to develop comprehensive, multilateral free-trade partnerships.

The trade panel leaders also authored an op-ed in Sunday’s Washington Post arguing that the U.S. must again work with our Asia-Pacific allies to counter China’s geopolitical rise and expand opportunities for American manufacturers, farmers and small businesses.

“The previous Administration’s decision to withdraw from the TPP was misguided, and China is taking full advantage of the leadership vacuum we left behind,” Carper said. “We must work together with our allies and trading partners to write the global rules of trade, particularly in the Asia Pacific, in a way that protects labor rights and the environment and opens up markets for American manufacturers, farmers and small businesses. But to do so, we first must get our seat back at the table. I look forward to convening this hearing with my wingman, Ranking Member Cornyn, where we will hear from esteemed experts and have a productive conversation about U.S. engagement in this region.”

Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Cornyn have convened a panel of four expert witnesses to speak on trade in the Asia-Pacific region. The witnesses include:

• Wendy S. Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute
• Don Allan Jr., President and Chief Financial Officer, Stanley Black & Decker
• Peter Petri, Ph.D., Carl J. Shapiro Professor of International Finance at the Brandeis International Business School and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
• Ambassador James B. Cunningham, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Israel, and the United Nations, former Counsul General of the United States in Hong Kong, Board Chair of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong

The hearing will be webcasted on the Finance Committee’s website, and will be livestreamed on Senator Carper’s Twitter.

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