Scenesetter for Trip to Japan and China, April 17-24, 2002

Real Audio of Briefing 

Copyright (c)2002 by Federal News Service, Inc., 620 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20045, USA.   For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service, please email Jack Graeme at info@fnsg.com or call (202) 824-0520.

SEC. EVANS: One other individual that we all know who spent a significant amount of his time in Midland, Texas -- he happens to be the president right now.

I am delighted to be back here -- looking forward my trip to Asia this next week. I leave for Tokyo on April the 17th. I will lead a business development mission to Beijing and Shanghai between April the 21st and the 25th. This trip is about sharing the dream that in fact will be the theme of the trip -- not the American dream, but the dream of all people, all mankind, to have a world that lives in peace and prosperity. Six billion people live on the planet. Three billion of them live on less than two dollars a day. Expanded trade leads to greater economic development. It leads to a higher standard of living. It leads to lifting people out of poverty. It leads to a higher quality of life. It leads to a world that lives in peace and prosperity. So that's what I am going to be talking about, how expanded trade can lead this world to a world that lives in peace and prosperity.

In Japan, I will meet with my counterpart, Minister Hiranuma. I will discuss ways to enhance cooperation between our two countries. I have already had occasion to meet with him -- couple of occasions to meet with him -- once here in Washington, once in France. I look forward to a third meeting with him. We will also be talking about the importance of entrepreneurship. I will also have a focus while I am in Japan on tourism and tourism cooperation. I will have a chance to meet with Minister Ogi, the minister of transportation, to discuss that cooperation. I note that we have run some tourism ads in Japan over the course of the last six months or so to encourage more tourism between our countries. I also expect there will be some discussion about sectoral issues such as steel. I will deliver a speech to AMCHAM in Tokyo. There I will focus on sharing the dream between our countries as well as through additional cooperation of our two countries.

Then I'm off to China. I will strengthen ties between the United States and China, commercially and more broadly. I will lead a business development mission there, as I have already said, and through that I hope we will develop government and business contacts that will hopefully lead to partnerships and opportunities for the people of China and for the people of America. I will meet with senior Chinese leaders and officials. I will spend a good deal of time with my counterpart, Minister Zhu. We will chair the joint commission on commerce and trade, a forum for addressing issues before they become real problems.

We will also discuss China's implementation of WTO. We have high expectations, but expect that China and the people of China will meet them. We want to be supportive in every kind of way that we can, to work with China to help them fulfill their WTO commitments.

I also want to take a look beyond the commercial aspect of our relationship with China. As I have already said, trade can be a force for good, and a force for goodness. I will visit projects where U.S. companies do business in China, and have been good corporate citizens in e-education -- IBM's kid smart program in Beijing -- computers -- there are some 50 computers to kindergartners there in China -- there are 50 schools that they have computers in throughout China; in health care -- Shanghai Children's Hospital is a place where I will also visit. It's a hospital for critically ill children, supported by major funding from U.S. firms. I will also speak to the AMCHAM in Beijing and the U.S.-China Business Council, and have a town hall meeting with the students at Zhoutung (ph) University.

I am very much looking forward to my trip -- not quite as much time as I would like to be spending in Japan or China. I will not have a chance to move out into the country of China or Japan, which disappoints me, but I will make a return trip so that I am able to do that. In this trip my time will be spent primarily in the cities, but I assure you that my next trip I will have occasion to move across the country and meet more of the good people of both Japan and China. I'll be glad to respond to any questions.

Q I am -- (inaudible) -- TV Asahi (ph) of Japan. Mr. Secretary, for quite some time many manufacturing companies in the United States, especially members of the National Association of Manufacturers, have claimed that the dollar is too strong for them, especially vis-a-vis the yen, and that their international competitiveness has been hurt unfairly. Now, as the secretary of Commerce, do you agree with them? Do you feel any sympathy to their claim? And are you going to raise the issue while you are in Japan?

And secondly, what will be your message about the steel issue in the wake of the president's visit and the Section 201 case?

SEC. EVANS: Right. I think the administration's position on the dollar has been clear. The secretary of the Treasury is the one responsible for responding to those quick questions. I will leave that in his very able hands. I will note that the manufacturing industry in the United States, and indeed in the world, seems to be strengthening. I think they were seeing not only a recovery here in America, but we are seeing the signs of a global recovery, which is very encouraging.

With respect to steel, I am certainly prepared and ready and anxious to respond to any questions they may want to ask. I would first and foremost tell them that what we are doing is enforcing our laws. And as you trade with America, people will learn that not only will we honor the trade agreements that we sign with other countries around the world, but we will also enforce our trade laws. One of the most important principles of opening trade around the world is clear signals that we will enforce our own trade laws, and also clear signals that we will do what we can to make sure we are providing our workers in this country a level playing field. We think competition is good. We like competition. We encourage competition. But we just want to make sure we are all playing by the same rules.

As to the 201 investigation itself, again, we are just simply enforcing our laws. We went through the procedures that you go through under the safeguard rules of the WTO, as well as our own laws here in America. We went through a very thoughtful, thorough, complete process over a long period of time. There was judgment there had been injury to our industry here in America. So the president again, being held responsible and accountable for enforcing the trade laws of America, imposed 201.

Q Sergei Yakolev (ph), Russian News Agency Tass. Mr. Secretary, I would like to take an opportunity of the briefing and ask you about the upcoming visit of Russian Minister German Gref to the United States early next week. So the first question is: What sort of issues do you intend to discuss here at the meeting with him? And the second question is: What message concerning reforms in the Russian economy will you provide Mr. Gref? Thank you.

SEC. EVANS: Thank you very much for the question. I am looking forward to my visit with my friend German Gref. He arrives Sunday night. He will be here for a couple of days. We will have a very complete and thorough agenda. It will be a follow-up to a number of meetings we have already had. I can't even count the number of phone conversations that we have had. But we have met now on at least half a dozen occasions. We have a very specific work plan that we have been working through with Russia. We will be talking about issues, specifically like energy and WTO accession. We will be talking about -- I am sure we will be talking about steel issues. We will talk about how we can continue to strengthen the Russia-American business dialogue that was initiated this last year. It's a dialogue between the business community of Russia and the business community of America that has already produced some important results. We will hear from them; we will talk to them.

So there will be a host of not only economic issues that we will talk about -- we will talk about energy-related issues, and we will make sure that we are making progress on a plan that we laid out some seven or eight months ago as to specific issues where we were expecting some progress, again one of those being WTO accession.

Q I'm -- (inaudible) -- from China Economic Daily. Mr. Secretary, could you explore a little bit more on the subject that you are going to discuss with the Chinese counterpart in the 14th Joint Session? And, as we know, this time also some small enterprises leaders are traveling with you together to China. Could you explore a little bit about what kind of efforts the U.S. is making to promote business between the small business of this country and the private business in China? Thank you.

SEC. EVANS: Well, first of all, it's an occasion for me to get to know the leadership of China, and for them to get to know me. That's an important initial step. I have had occasion to meet a few of them in my office, and some in Paris as well at the last OECD meeting. But a message I will be taking along is one of congratulations as to their joining the WTO, and a message of commitment to assist them in every way that they can in making sure that they are joining and becoming a part of the WTO is as smooth a process as it can be, and make sure they understand the rules and regulations and standards that apply to all members of the WTO.

From the Department of Commerce's perspective, we have more people on the ground in China than any other country, and it is in large part to just help them in their implementation process of the rules and regulations that they must comply with with respect to WTO. So I want to give them the clear message that we are there to assist them, to support them, to help them, and make sure that they have got an open line of communication back to me in case there are any problems that come up, because you know one thing I like to do is solve problems early on. If we see problems, they see problems they are concerned about, I want to address them quickly. So one way to make sure we do is me just sending them the message that they can give me a call.

In terms of entrepreneurship or small businesses and ways we can enhance that, as I said already we have already -- we have got more people on the ground than any other country in the world. We are very focused through our Foreign Commercial Service operation that we will make small businesses and medium-sized businesses aware of market opportunities that are in Russia -- I mean are in China. We'll be talking a lot about opportunities that may present some of the small businesses here, as well as larger businesses as a result of the 2008 Summer Olympics being in China. So I am sure that's another topic that we will talk about. But the best way I know to kind of strengthen the partnership and relationships between small businesses in this country and China is to introduce them to each other, and so that they can become acquainted and friends. And that's why I am taking a number of small and medium sized businesses along with me.

Q (Off mike) -- Nikkei (ph) Newspaper. Mr. Secretary, I have a question about the foreign exchange policy of China and Japan. I think it is fair to say that there is a kind of conflict of interests in terms of foreign exchange policy between China and Japan, because the Japanese government has been keeping the position that the weaker Japanese yen is more desirable to solve the deflationary pressure -- deflationary problem in Japan which Japan is suffering very much. And on the other hand the Chinese government criticized that this type of Japanese government policy. My question is: Which do you think is more desirable to the U.S. economy or U.S. government?

SEC. EVANS: Well, we have spent a substantial amount of time talking to our friends in Japan and encouraging them in steps that they might take with respect to their economy. And I think we have been very clear on that. I know the president has been very clear on that. I am not going to take a position on which I think is better in terms of the U.S. economy. I think what we can do is encourage them, lead by example, and then let them make their own decisions. I mean, they're their decisions to make, so I am really not going to get into the issue of what I think may or may not be more supportive of the U.S. economy.

Q Charlie Schneider of the Taipei Times. Your deputy, Grant Aldonis, is in Taipei now, and just before your trip to China. I was wondering a couple of things. First of all, are these two trips in any way related? And when you're in China, will you be discussing with the Chinese leadership how China and Taiwan will interact within the WTO now that they are both members?

SEC. EVANS: Well, you know, listen, again, I think the fact that Grant is in Asia is another indication of our strong commitment to that part of the world. The assistant secretary of market access and compliance has been there -- will be going back shortly. Our undersecretary of Bureau of Export Administration has been there. So there's a major commitment on our part between the U.S. and the Asia region when it comes to the WTO. We are going to again just concentrate on making sure that China understands their obligations under the WTO, and we'll assist them in every kind of way we can. And any issues that come up that they think we can assist them, we are glad to assist them.

Q Mr. Secretary -- (inaudible) -- TV of Hong Kong. I have two questions. One is: Does this trip symbolize that China is a favorable place for investment to many of your American businessmen? And the second is Ambassador Zoellick was in Beijing recently, and I guess there's not agreement on the steel issue. If there is not a deal, will the U.S. retaliate, say in soybean or some other commodities going to China?

SEC. EVANS: Well, first of all, by the flow of capital into China, it is apparent that those who make decisions as to whether or not it's a friendly environment for investment have been making the decision that it is a friendly environment for investment. In fact, last year there was $40 billion of foreign direct investment that went into China. That's second only to the United States. Compare that with about $8 billion that went into Japan. So I think it's, you know, it's an indicator of what the investment community thinks as to how friendly the environment is. There's a substantial amount of investment flow that is going into China. I think there is certainly a recognition of the kind of rather dramatic growth rates in trade that China has been experiencing over the last 10 years. I think they have been growing at about 20 percent per year, which is twice what the rest of the world has been growing. So I think the facts speak for themselves.

I think the facts are is that those who make decisions in the world about where to invest capital have made the decision that China is a good place to be investing capital.

With respect to steel, I think -- and Ambassador Zoellick, I haven't talked to him yet -- and I will talk to him when he returns -- but I mean, I am sure he was over there just simply explaining the B decision, and also explaining the process under the safeguards of the WTO that we followed, and then what the rules are, what the responsibilities are with respect to any country that might want to challenge that.

I mean, there is a process that you can go through, and I'm sure he's making sure that, you know, they understand that process.

MODERATOR: We have time for about two more questions. The gentleman in the (green tie ?).

Q Chris Cockel from The China Post in Taiwan. You talked about problems that China might have -- might experience with its WTO compliance. Can you expand on that, firstly? And also, can you clarify your previous answer about whether Taiwan will be discussed with Chinese officials, the interaction between China and Taiwan within the WTO? Thanks.

SEC. EVANS: Right. Sure. You know, I'm not going to get down in the details of what the specificity is of their compliance with the WTO. I'll just say, you know, there is certainly a lot of rules, regulations, standards that they need to become familiar with or have become familiar with. Any part of it that, you know, they feel like they need some assistance in, you know, further understanding or further implementing, whether or not it might be, you know, financial kind of standards or controls or accounting controls or rule of law or transparency kind of issues, we're glad to work with them on those. Taiwan's not on my agenda to discuss. You know, that's not saying it won't be brought up. If it's brought up, I'll be glad to discuss it.

MODERATOR: Last question from the gentleman in the red shirt, right here.

Q (Name inaudible) -- from Korea Economic Daily. Let me ask about Korean automobile market. General Motors is close to finalizing a takeover of Korean Daewoo Motor. And Korean Hyundai Motor just chose the state of Alabama as its first plant in the United States. Do you think this kind of direct investment will help to mitigate U.S. strong complaint about Korean closed auto market? And what do you think the priorities the South Korean government should do to open up their Korean auto market?

SEC. EVANS: Well, it's a very encouraging sign to see that they're going to build their first plant in Alabama. Alabama has attracted quite a few automobile manufacturers to their state. And so that was a very positive sign.

I think, you know, we've got great relations with South Korea. We continue to work on those.

I don't have a list of items that I can tick off for you right now with any specificity that we can focus on. But I would say that, you know, our relationship with them is certainly a very good one, a very open one. And any of the -- which is true, you know -- let me say one thing about just that whole area. This relates to South Korea, Japan and China. With respect to steel, it's less than 1 percent of the trade activity that we have between our countries. And so you need to keep all of these issues in perspective. But certainly steel has captured a lot of attention in the last month or so, but when you look at the big picture of trade between all of these countries, whether it be South Korea, Japan, China, it's a very, very small percent of our trade.

And I see this time and time again, that, you know, yes, some issues will get some attention in the media because they happen to be issues that maybe people have different positions on. But let me tell you that the -- you know, the lion's share of the trade that takes place between our countries, you know, we don't have a lot of issues. So, you know, I think we enjoy a good trading relationship with South Korea. We're always looking for ways to build on that and strengthen that, improve that, just like we are with Japan and China and all other countries of the world.

Thank you all very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Secretary. Have a good trip.

SEC. EVANS: Thank you. Appreciate it. 

Copyright (c)2002 by Federal News Service, Inc., 620 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20045 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service, please email Jack Graeme at info@fnsg.com or call (202)824-0520.