US. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is traveling to China with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman this week (December 19 and 20). Pritzker and Froman will co-chair the 24th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in Beijing. Pritzker says the commission is a critical component of U.S. engagement in Asia and an important mechanism in efforts to further build on the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. According to Ambassador Froman – the joint commission provides an important platform to address wide-ranging issues in the bilateral trade relationship with China. He says the focus this year is on making progress in areas like market access for goods and services and removal of regulatory barriers. Vilsack says work on critical trade matters with the Chinese can help open even more markets for U.S. exports – in line with the President’s commitment to increase U.S. exports under the National Export Initiative.
China was the largest supplier of U.S. goods imports and the third-largest market for U.S. exports in 2012. U.S. goods exports to China were 110-billion dollars in 2012 – up 583-percent since 2000.