U.S. Representative Young Kim, District 40 | Official U.S. House headshot
U.S. Representative Young Kim, District 40 | Official U.S. House headshot
Mar 21 2024
U.S. Representative Young Kim, chairwoman of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee, highlighted the significance of the Indo-Pacific region in a hearing titled “Commerce as Statecraft: Better Leveraging U.S. Business to Advance our Economic and National Security Goals in the Indo-Pacific.”
Chairwoman Kim underscored the economic importance of the Indo-Pacific region to the United States, stating, "The Indo-Pacific region is the largest market in the world for U.S. exports." She emphasized that the region supports over three million U.S. jobs and $900 billion in foreign investment in the U.S.
In her opening remarks, Rep. Young Kim pointed out that despite the Indo-Pacific's critical role in the U.S. economy, there is a lack of sustained and substantive economic engagement by the U.S. government in the region. She expressed concern over the absence of comprehensive multilateral trade deals and limited free trade agreements with Indo-Pacific countries, which could potentially disadvantage U.S. exporters and investors.
During the hearing, Rep. Young Kim voiced disappointment over the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework's failure to address market access issues and tariff reductions. She stressed the need for sectoral agreements in key areas such as semiconductors and critical minerals to enhance technological advancement and mutual benefits for participating countries.
Furthermore, Rep. Young Kim advocated for the appointment of commercial diplomats to support U.S. companies in the region and emphasized the importance of setting standards and frameworks for the digital economy to prevent losing ground to competitors like the Chinese Communist Party.
In conclusion, Rep. Young Kim expressed her eagerness to hear from witnesses about efforts to increase U.S. exports in the Indo-Pacific and provide regulatory certainty for investments, including through free trade agreements. She thanked the witnesses for their participation and looked forward to a detailed discussion on U.S. government initiatives in the region.
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