U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai addressed the IAM Grand Lodge Convention in New York City this week with a captivating declamation on the direction of U.S. trade policy and how America’s unions help configure it.

As the head trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy, Tai takes the leading role in shaping America’s trade landscape. 

“We are doing everything we can to reduce barriers to worker organizing,” said Tai to the delegation. “We are a team of joyful warriors and we are fighting for you.”

Under Tai’s leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration’s worker-centered trade policy has strengthened the nation’s supply chains, created jobs, and enhanced national security. 

“We’re fighting for the common good to lift up hard work with people and not to tear them down, because when you look at our economy, we know that our economy is more than just a set of numbers,” said Tai. “Our economy is made up of people, workers, and the communities that they live in and support. So our economic policies must work for them to empower them, to equip them, to succeed, not just today, but also for future generations.”

By steering away from decades of misguided trade strategies that resulted in job losses, Tai has placed the USTR at the forefront of policies that prioritize workers. 

“What we are doing is building an economy that works for all working,” said Tai. “That has always been the foundation of the labor movement and IAM, and your members have been leading that fight.” 

Tai left the delegation with these final remarks: 

“We have to stop pitting Americans against Americans,” said Tai. “We have made it clear to our trading partners that workers have to be at the heart of what we do, and as I have done this job, now for almost four years, something I have discovered, is that it turns out that we all want to build our middle class. The question then is, how can we do trade policy in a way where We can build our middle class together, instead of pitting our middle class and our working people against each other.”