U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai visited the Albany area on Wednesday, the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Tai was in Malta to tour manufacturer GlobalFoundries' chip-making facility.
"An important part of my job is coming out and traveling the United States to make sure that when I am representing the interests of our country in trade forums, that I am being informed by the conversations that I'm having, the meetings I'm doing, the workers and also the companies in their communities where they live and work and where they are," said Tai. "Here in New York, I'm also here to spend time with Congressman Paul Tonko, who is a good friend of mine, to see the community that he represents. And what I think is really, really important about this community is we are seeing exactly where our industrial history has been, where it's taken us over time and an erosion in industries here. And then right now, a moment of real rebirth and reinvestment.
Democratic Capital Region Congressman Paul Tonko of the 20th district joined the ambassador for the tour. Afterward, the two traveled to Schenectady for a roundtable discussion with Communications Workers of America union leaders and workers.
"I wanted her to make certain that there were efforts to visit places like Global Foundries that are in a global marketplace, competing for jobs and providing services for companies around the world," Tonko said. "So it's important to keep that context of trade and the importance of it. But at the same time, having a meeting with the union workers, who have seen through generations, what has happened, where we lost that impact of union jobs in the area, and how contracts have been hurtful in the past.”
Tonko says the chip maker is poised for growth due to demand from automakers and the telecommunications industry.
"So that history being shared here with great passion, by union voices at the table, and her, being in that same sort of thinking, knowing that there's a way to do this, that will not harm American jobs, union jobs," said Tonko. "So bringing that discussion together so that we can understand each other's passion and establish the goals and principles that need to move us forward with negotiations on these global partnerships, and trade outcomes."
Biden administration officials and Democrats have been touting the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act. Tai tells WAMC the Chips and Science Act also had its anniversary in August, and making the Capital Region a semiconductor chip manufacturing hub is a component of reasserting American innovation.
"There are so many pressing needs, as President Biden says, we are living at a real inflection point," said Tai. "There's a digital transformation that's happening around the world. There's a climate crisis creating a need for new technologies. There are geopolitical changes happening around us. And then we've just woken up to the fact over these past few years that our supply chains are sprawling and fragile. And globalization itself has got to evolve and adapt. And I think at the very top of the list, in terms of what we need to be paying the most attention to, is reinvesting and investing in America and in Americans to focus on the fact that our economy and our country is made up of people.”
Tai says it is the government's responsibility to ensure Americans have economic opportunity and a bright future.
