Date: March 13-14, 2012

Location: Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, Arlington VA

TREM12 was a fantastic success - Our keynote speakers were:

• Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
• The Honorable David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary of Energy
• His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the US
• Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robert Cekuta, Bureau of Energy Security

Held March 17-18, 2010 in Washington DC at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row

"Many thanks for organizing such a productive conference "

"That was a great conference, by the way"

"To me, the TREM process is endless. TREM '11 should excel."

March 13, 2012

On the first day of the TREM12 critical materials policy conference in the capitol region, President Obama announced that the US was filing a case against China before the World Trade Organization. Standing in the Rose Garden of the White House, the President made the following remarks, which were streamed live to TREM12 attendees at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City.

Remarks by the President on Fair Trade

Rose Garden

11:37 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:

Now, one of the things that I talked about during the State of the Union address was making America more competitive in the global economy.  The good news is that we have the best workers and the best businesses in the world.  They turn out the best products.  And when the playing field is level, they’ll always be able to compete and succeed against every other country on Earth.

But the key is to make sure that the playing field is level.  And frankly, sometimes it’s not.  I will always try to work our differences through with other countries.  We prefer dialogue.  That’s especially true when it comes to key trading partners like China.  We've got a constructive economic relationship with China, and whenever possible, we are committed to working with them to addressing our concerns.  But when it is necessary, I will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices.

Since I took office, we’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration, and these actions are making a difference.  For example, we halted an unfair surge in Chinese tires, which has helped put over 1,000 American workers back on the job.  But we haven't stopped there.

Two weeks ago, I created a Trade Enforcement Unit to aggressively investigate any unfair trade practices taking place anywhere in the world.  And as they ramp up their efforts, our competitors should be on notice:  You will not get away with skirting the rules.  When we can, we will rally support from our allies.  And when it makes sense to act on our own, we will.

I just signed a bill to help American companies that are facing unfair foreign competition.  These companies employ tens of thousands of Americans in nearly 40 states.  Because of subsidies from foreign governments, some of their foreign competitors are selling products at an artificially low price.  That needs to stop.

This morning, we’re taking an additional step forward.  We’re bringing a new trade case against China -- and we’re being joined by Japan and some of our European allies.  This case involves something called rare earth materials, which are used by American manufacturers to make high-tech products like advanced batteries that power everything from hybrid cars to cell phones.

We want our companies building those products right here in America.  But to do that, American manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials -- which China supplies.  Now, if China would simply let the market work on its own, we’d have no objections.  But their policies currently are preventing that from happening.  And they go against the very rules that China agreed to follow.

Being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in America is too important for us to stand by and do nothing.  We've got to take control of our energy future, and we can’t let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules.  So our administration will bring this case against China today, and we will keep working every single day to give American workers and American businesses a fair shot in the global economy.

We're going to make sure that this isn’t a country that’s just known for what we consume.  America needs to get back to doing what it's always done best -- a country that builds and sells products all over the world that are stamped with the proud words:  "Made in America."  That’s how we create good, middle-class jobs at home, and that’s how we're going to create an economy that’s built to last.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END

11:42 A.M. EDT

We are grateful for the knowledge and time our speakers are willing to lend to TREM12 delegates. Our speakers this year are:

His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki - Ambassador Extraodinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the USA

Ambassador Fujisaki started his duties as the Ambassador of Japan to the United States in June 2008. Prior to his current post, he served as Ambassador to the UN and to the WTO in Geneva. While there, he served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees). He previously served as the political minister of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, from 1995-99. As a diplomat, he has also served in Jakarta, Paris (OECD), and London.

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, he has held such posts as Deputy Director-General for Asian Affairs and Director-General for North American Affairs before being appointed as the Deputy Foreign Minister. He has also served as the Sherpa, or the personal representative, of the Prime Minister to G8 Summit meetings.

His wife Yoriko attended kindergarten at Ben Murch in Washington, DC. Their two daughters also attended school in the Washington area. The elder daughter Mari graduated from Stone Ridge High School in Bethesda, MD. The younger daughter Emi studied at the same school as well as at Somerset Elementary School in Montgomery County, MD. Both daughters now work as journalists in Japan.

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski - United States Senator from the State of Alaska

Senator Lisa Murkowski is the first Alaskan-born Senator and only the sixth United States Senator to serve the state. Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has been a strong advocate for Alaska on the important issues facing the state, including energy, health care, education, military/veterans’ affairs and infrastructure development.

Senator Murkowski is the senior Republican member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is the ranking Republican of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.  Senator Murkowski is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – the first Alaskan to serve on that panel – and also is a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

She earned a B.A. in economics from Georgetown University in 1980 and a law degree from Willamette University in 1985.  Prior to her appointment to the United States Senate, Senator Murkowski practiced commercial law in Anchorage and served three terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives.  She was elected to a full six-year U.S. Senate term in 2004, and was re-elected in 2010 in a historic write-in campaign, the first successful write-in effort to the Senate since 1954. Senator Murkowski is married to Verne Martell and they have two sons. She enjoys spending time with her family in the Alaska outdoors.

The Honorable David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary of Energy

As Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, David Sandalow helps coordinate policy and manage international activities at the Energy Department. Prior to being confirmed as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Sandalow was Energy and Environment Scholar and a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program of the Brookings Institution, as well as Energy and Climate Change Working Group Chair at the Clinton Global Initiative. He is the author of Freedom from Oil (McGraw-Hill, 2008) and editor of Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (Brookings Press, 2009). Mr. Sandalow has written widely on energy and environmental policy, including op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times and other publications. Previously, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment & Science; Senior Director for Environmental Affairs, National Security Council; Associate Director for the Global Environment, White House Council on Environmental Quality; and Executive Vice President, World Wildlife Fund - U.S. Mr. Sandalow is a graduate of Yale College (BA Philosophy) and the University of Michigan Law School (JD).

Robert F. Cekuta, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

The Energy Resources Bureau’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and working to ensure U.S. global energy security, Bob Cekuta also has direct oversight over the Bureau’s work on transparency and access to energy. Bob comes to the Bureau having most recently been Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Sanctions, and Commodities in the State Department’s Bureau for Energy and Business Affairs.Recent overseas assignments include Tokyo (2007 – 2009) and Berlin (2003 – 2007) where he led the USG’s engagement on the full range of economic issues with two of the world’s top economies. Bob’s work as Economic Minister Counselor in Germany included counter-terrorism and efforts to combat international criminal activities. He was also Senior Advisor for Food Security in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and Senior Deputy Coordinating Director at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan for all development and economic affairs. Having been assigned overseas in Albania, Austria, Iraq, South Africa, and Yemen, Bob has also worked in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (1999 – 2000). He has held positions in Washington at the State Department responsible for energy, trade, and economic development, including Director for Economic Policy Analysis and Public Diplomacy, Special Negotiator for Biotechnology, and Director of the Iraq Economic Task Force.Bob is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds Masters Degrees from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and the National War College