Remarks by Under Secretary Marisa Lago at U.S.-China Business Council 2024 Gala

Washington, DC

December 11, 2024

As Prepared for Delivery

Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Craig, for your kind introduction. And thank you for your expert leadership, advice and partnership as USCBC President over the past six and a half years. Your sage insights and contributions — including your nearly three decades of service at the U.S. Department of Commerce — have been indispensable to me and my team.

I also warmly welcome Sean as USCBC’s new President. It’s such a pleasure to see you again, after having seen you in Beijing this past September, in your capacity as Chair of AmCham China. The U.S. Department of Commerce looks forward to continuing our partnership with you in your new role.

Thank you, Raj, for your leadership thus far as Chair of the USCBC Board. The last time that we saw each other was another festive occasion, when USCBC hosted a reception this past June to welcome you as the new Chair. You’ll appreciate that, just last month, I had the opportunity to tour a major FedEx facility in New Clark City in the Philippines, where I was leading the U.S. Department of Commerce’s first-ever trade mission focused on smart cities.

Ambassador Xie, thank you for joining us this evening. My team and I at the U.S. Department of Commerce appreciate your continued engagement and the Chinese Embassy’s attention to the concerns of U.S. businesses in China.

Before diving into my remarks, I’m pleased to share a letter from President Biden, who sends his warmest greetings to the USCBC members, as well as his appreciation of USCBC’s legacy of supporting commercial relations between the United States and China.

In President Biden’s words: “in the face of issues that are too big for any nation to solve alone — such as the climate crisis, and global food and health security — it is more important than ever that the United States and the People’s Republic of China work together.”

President Biden’s letter continues: “Throughout my time as President, I have maintained to President Xi Jinping that the United States is committed to responsibly managing competition between our countries. I am proud of the steps the United States and the People’s Republic of China have taken toward that end, especially on counternarcotics cooperation; military-to-military communication; and strengthening cooperation in areas involving commercial, economic and financial issues.”

President Biden concludes by saying: “upholding global stability and delivering for the American people means using diplomacy to maintain productive conversations and engagement, including with competitors.”

At the U.S. Department of Commerce, even as we work to maintain healthy trade and investment with China, Beijing’s economic actions present us with an increasingly fraught policy landscape. China has passed laws and regulations that constrain the ability of the U.S. business community to access the information that it needs to make smart business decisions, facilitate the smooth operation of their enterprises, and even ensure the safety of employees.

All of these activities mean that the opportunities for the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship to expand in ways that would benefit both of our countries are currently diminishing, rather than expanding. As you well know, trade and investment trends are heading in a concerning direction.

For example, last year, U.S. exports to China declined by over four percent, while imports declined by over 20 percent. And, investments by U.S. private equity funds fell from $140 billion in 2019 to just $4 billion in 2023.

Even so, over the past several years, the U.S. Department of Commerce has worked hard to manage the U.S.-China commercial relationship responsibly. Much of our work has been focused on creating new trade and investment opportunities for U.S. companies to ensure both U.S. national security and the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

It bears repeating: we do not seek to decouple from China. We do want commerce. Trade and commerce — on a level playing field — are essential to the well-being of both countries’ businesses, workers and economies.

Thanks to the invaluable insights and recommendations of USCBC and your member companies — all of you — the U.S. Department of Commerce has worked to advance U.S. commercial interests, and find areas of common interest, where possible.

During Secretary Raimondo’s visit to China last year, she and Minister Wang Wentao established the U.S.-China Commercial Issues Working Group (or CIWG) to raise real-world, practical issues that matter to our respective business communities.

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of co-leading with Vice Minister Wang Shouwen the first two CIWG meetings — one in the Washington, DC area and another in Tianjin. I can’t pretend that we’ve resolved every commercial issue. We haven’t shied away from tackling difficult, and in some instances longstanding issues, and many remain outstanding. Nonetheless the CIWG has been an invaluable forum in which to raise pragmatic issues that have been identified directly by you — the U.S. business community.

As I reaffirmed with Vice Minister Wang, direct communication between our governments — on behalf of both countries’ businesses and workers — is vital to reduce misunderstandings and to prevent irritants from escalating into harmful repercussions for both sides. I am especially bullish on advancing cooperation in areas of common interest — particularly healthcare, clean energy, travel and tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

During the most recent CIWG meeting in September in China, I especially appreciated the multiple opportunities to highlight how U.S. companies can improve healthcare outcomes for patients in China — building on convenings with China’s National Health Commission, the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, and U.S. and Chinese healthcare leaders and experts.

More broadly, the CIWG has been part of an overarching framework of government-to-government commercial engagements. These include an information exchange on enforcing export controls, a workstream on trade secrets, and the resumption of technical exchanges on trade remedies.

As we look ahead, this group knows especially well that the U.S.-China commercial relationship is the world’s largest and most consequential. Let us continue to pursue areas of commercial cooperation that can benefit both of our countries’ businesses, workers, communities and economies.

I’ll close by raising a toast to USCBC — its leadership past and present, and its members, the many companies that are here this evening. Thank you for your longstanding commitment to promoting a constructive path forward for the United States and China.