USPTO announces new Public Advisory Committee members

Washington DC, Dec 16 – The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced new membership to its Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees, composed of private-sector intellectual property (IP) executives who help advise the Secretary of Commerce and the USPTO Director on the management of patent and trademark operations. The Secretary of Commerce appoints the nine members of each committee to serve three-year rotating terms.

“The Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees are great examples of fruitful public-private collaborations that serve the interests of our valued intellectual property community,” said Drew Hirshfeld, Performing the Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property (IP) and Director of the USPTO. “I am thrilled to welcome our new members and look forward to working with them to expand and strengthen the innovation ecosystem. I also want to extend my appreciation to all outgoing PAC members for their many years of outstanding service–Julie, Jennifer, Barney, Chris, Stephanie, and Kelly–your leadership has been instrumental during such an unprecedented period, and we are exceedingly grateful.”

In addition to the new members, former PPAC Vice Chair Steven P. Caltrider will now serve as Chair, and Tracy-Gene Durkin will serve as PPAC’s new Vice Chair. Former TPAC Vice Chair Susan Natland will serve as Chair, while David J. Cho will serve as TPAC’s new Vice Chair.

Current PPAC members include Jeffrey M. Sears, Jeremiah Chan, Daniel P. Brown, and Judge Susan G. Braden. TPAC members are Tricia McDermott Thompkins, Jennifer Kovalcik, Tracy L. Deutmeyer, and Joemarie B. Fredericks.

The new members of USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) include Charles Duan, Suzanne Harrison, and Heidi S. Nebel, while the new members of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) are Adraea Brown, Rodrick J. Enns, and Dana Brown Northcott, (bios for all PAC members are further below). Recent PPAC members Julie Mar-Spinola, Jennifer Camacho, and Barney Cassidy, as well as recent TPAC members Christopher Kelly, Stephanie Bald, and Kelly Walton, have rotated off the committees having completed their terms.

The Public Advisory Committees for the USPTO were created through the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act statute in the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999. The committees review the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the patent and trademark operations, respectively, and advise the director on these matters.

California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kunarakis presented a Certificate of Recognition to the AICC for its participation in the CIFTIS 2021

California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis presented a Certificate of Recognition to the American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) on September 2 and thanked the AICC for its participation in hosting the California Pavilion and Investment Trade Forum at the China International Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2021.

“It is with great pleasure to recognize you and your leadership your role as Executive Chairman of the American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC),” Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kunarakis wrote on the Certificate of Recognition, “Thank you for representing the AICC as the host of the California Pavilion and Forum in the International Trade and Service Fair in Beijing, China.”

“I am very pleased that Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kunarakis of California today presented the Certificate of Recognition to AICC, and I thank the State of California for reaffirming the work of the AICC,” said Holmes Stoner, Chairman of the American International Chamber of Commerce, on September 2nd, “Under the current economic and trade environment between the United States and China, it is of special significance for the California government to recognize and award the work of the AICC in China. We always believe that foreign enterprises will have more development opportunities and broader development space and benefit more from cooperating with California enterprises or investing in California. For a long time, we have focused on promoting California’s cooperation with Provinces and cities in China, which has achieved sustainable and productive results and won praise and praise from our partners and member companies. We are willing to continue to strengthen interaction and provide services for Chinese enterprises and entrepreneurs, and work together for mutually beneficial development.”

“We are grateful to the State of California and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kunarakis for their support of our project,” said Jason Quin, Executive Chairman of the AICC, “CIFTIS is the largest fair of trade in service in the world. The AICC is willing to provide effective services to American businesses participating in the CIFTIS. Through the excellent platform of CIFTIS, the AICC will continue to promote the image of participating companies, enhance their brands, and promote business development. Actively provide follow-up services for Chinese enterprises and entrepreneurs to invest and do business in California after the conference, and provide practical docking of investment and trade business for our members and customers.”



Celebrating the Lunar New Year!

Best wishes to all our friends around the world. Celebrating the Lunar New Year on January 25, 2020

The 2019 Asian Film Festival awards ceremony will kick off in Los Angeles on Dec 12th

2019 Asian Film Festival
Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles
506 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Event Date: December 12th, 2019

The 2019 Asian Film Festival Golden Diamond Awards Ceremony will kick off in Los Angeles on Dec 12th,2019

The 2019 Asian Film Festival Golden Diamond awards Ceremony, co-sponsored by the American International Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Film Festival Committee will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles Hotel on December 12.

Nearly 1,000 nominees, filmmakers, business leader and winning from around the world will attend the event.

Event agenda:

9:00-19:00 PM, Asian Film Festival Art Exhibition
Open to the public, Free event, RSVP

2:30-3:30 PM, Asian Film Cooperation Forum
free for all nominees and public, RSVP

3:30-5:00 PM, Red Carpet
The VIP guests, nominees and winners only.

5:00-8:00 PM, Asian Film Festival Golden diamond Awards Ceremony
The Invited VIP guests and winners are admitted free. All other guests must pay for admitted entry ticket.
$50 Student, Admission pass $100, VIP $150.

8:00-9:30 PM, After Party. Hollywood Night Celebration Reception
The VIP guests and winners are admitted free. All other guests must buy tickets.
Admission VIP pass $150. USD
Student pass $70.USD

End at 9:30PM

Ticket available booking on official website

BLS publishes statistics on workers’ injuries and illnesses in 2018

There were 900,380 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in the private sector in 2018 in which the injured or ill worker took a least one day away from work to recuperate. This was essentially the same number reported for 2017. The incidence rate remained unchanged in 2018 at 89.7 cases per 10,000 full-time workers. In 2018, the median days away from work to recuperate was 8 days, the same as reported in 2017.

Workers in transportation and material moving occupations experienced 184,470 injuries and illnesses in 2018 that resulted in days away from work. That was 20 percent of all the cases that resulted in days away from work. The incidence rate for transportation and material moving workers was 193.7 cases per 10,000 full-time workers. These workers took a median of 13 days away from work to recuperate from their injuries and illnesses.

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers had 54,400 injuries and illness in 2018 that resulted in days away from work. The incidence rate for these workers was 166.0 cases per 10,000 full-time workers. They took a median of 7 days away from work to recuperate from their injuries and illnesses.

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Transportation and material moving workers experienced 184,470 injuries and illnesses in 2018 on the BLS website (visited December 07, 2019).

BEA to Release First Official GDP Estimates

The size of every county’s economy with industry detail will be officially released for the first time by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Dec. 12.

BEA will estimate annual gross domestic product, or GDP, for the years 2001 through 2018 for more than 3,000 counties. The data will include contributions to GDP by 34 industries, such as manufacturing, retail trade, and health and social assistance.

Measuring GDP at the county level is a milestone in BEA’s efforts to better capture how economic activity is distributed across the nation. This new information, in high demand by data users, will complement the county personal income statistics BEA has produced since 1975.

GDP for counties and metropolitan statistical areas will be published together at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 12 in a new joint release called Local Area Gross Domestic Product, 2018. It replaces the Gross Domestic Product by Metropolitan Area release of previous years.

BEA will continue to publish annual county and metro GDP statistics each December. In addition to industry contributions to GDP, the data will include current-dollar GDP; inflation-adjusted or real GDP; percent change from the preceding year; and quantity indexes.

The county statistics can be used for comparisons to other counties, metropolitan areas, state economies, or the nation overall.

They can answer questions such as:

  • What is the size of a county’s economy?
  • Is its economy growing or declining?
  • In which industries does the county specialize?
  • What industries are driving its growth?
  • What has been the county’s economic growth trend over time?

Business owners, county officials, and policymakers at all levels of government can use these statistics to make better-informed decisions about investments, economic development, or economic policies.

High-quality, consistently defined time series data for counties across the United States will aid research into topics such as the distribution of national economic output, local economic dynamics, and the effectiveness of economic development strategies.

Like county personal income data, the new GDP statistics will cover 3,113 areas, including county equivalents such as Louisiana’s parishes and Alaska’s boroughs, the District of Columbia, and the independent cities in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia. Kalawao County, Hawaii, and the smaller independent cities of Virginia are combined with adjacent counties.

GDP statistics are based on the place of production, such as the county where an office or factory is located, regardless of where the workers live. This differs from BEA’s personal income statistics, which measure the incomes of all people residing in a county, no matter where they work.

For example, a person who works in Los Angeles and commutes home to Riverside County, Calif., contributes to Los Angeles County’s GDP but Riverside County’s personal income data.

BEA released prototype county GDP data last December and sought evaluation and feedback from data users. The responses and further research led BEA to refine its methodology and add significant industry detail to the coming official release.

Upcoming Domestic and International Trade Events

Event: WEFTEC 2019 
Date: September 21-25, 2019 
Location: Chicago, IL 
Description: WEFTEC is the largest conference of its kind in North America and offers water quality professionals from around the world with the best water quality education and training available today. The U.S. Commercial Service will be offering B2B matchmaking and Showtime market counseling services. 

Event: Expo Agua Peru
Date: October 16-18, 2019
Location: Lima, Peru
Description: This is the main water expo of Peru, where the latest technological innovations and integral solutions for the sustainable and productive management of water are presented. The event brings together leading companies in their fields, international experts, decision makers and a broad segment of end-users coming from the water sector and related sectors (agriculture, mining and industry); who share their experiences and solutions to the problems and challenges that face Peru and the Andean region regarding the integral water management. The U.S. Commercial Service will have a booth space and offer matchmaking and promotional opportunities for interested U.S. firms.  

Event: IFAT India
Date: October 16-18, 2019
Location: Bombay Exhibition Center, India
Description: IFAT India is the country’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, solid waste, and recycling. The trade fair provides a platform for exhibitors to showcase their latest innovations and solutions, debate current issues and form business relationships on a global scale. 

Event: WETEX
Date: October 22-24, 2019
Location: Dubai, UAE

Event: InterAqua
Date: January 29-31, 2020
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Event: Envirotech Executive Service (EES) Mission – Water Delegation to India
Location: New Delhi, Ahmedabad & Chennai with optional spin-off Gold Key Service in Mumbai or Hyderabad
Date: February 9-15, 2020 (spin-off on February 17, 2020)
Description: Water/wastewater is one of the most promising sub-sectors of the environment technologies industry in India for U.S. exporters.  The EES Mission to India will introduce potential delegates to the Indian water/wastewater markets in these three cities; help participants learn about relevant policies, procedures and opportunities in India’s water industry; and take part in business to business matchmaking appointments with private sector organizations and government agencies.  In addition, the delegates will have an opportunity to visit/participate in the Water Expo 2020, a local trade show that takes place from February 13-15, 2020 in Chennai. 

Event: Water Today’s Water Expo 
Location: Chennai, India
Date: February 13-15, 2020

Event: IFAT
Date: May 5-9, 2020 
Location: Munich, Germany 
Description: IFAT is the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Waste and Raw Materials Management. This truly international show offered over 3,300 exhibitors the opportunity to present their latest innovations in waste management and recycling to more than 142,000 visitors from 162 countries!

Event: Singapore International Water Week
Date: July 5-9, 2020
Location: Singapore
Description: There will be a U.S. pavilion and support for participating U.S. exhibitors from the U.S. Commercial Service in Singapore.  

Event: USA Fair Access Nigeria
Date: March 31-April 2, 2020
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Description: The USA Fair 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria will present American manufacturers, suppliers and service providers with product showcase opportunities in the largest and most dynamic market on the African continent! Save the date now and register by November 30, 2019 to get the early bird rate. 

U.S. Economy Adds Another 224,000 New Jobs in June As Wage Increases Remain Strong

The White House issued a press release said, The United States economy continues to flourish, according to the June Employment Situation Report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Total nonfarm payroll employment in June rose by 224,000 jobs, far exceeding market expectations (162,000). With July marking the longest economic expansion on record, it is a testament to the strength of the Administration’s economic policies that the economy continues to generate monthly job gains of this magnitude.

Including revisions for the months of April and May, the average pace of job growth has been a vigorous 192,000 jobs per month over the past year. In total, the economy has added more than 6 million jobs since President Donald J. Trump was elected. The June jobs report also reflects a rebound in job growth, suggesting that May’s revised outcome (+72K) was not a trend (see figure).

The education and health services industry, which added 61,000 jobs, experienced the largest job growth in June. Manufacturing jobs increased as well, gaining 17,000 jobs last month. Since the President’s election, the manufacturing industry has added more than 500,000 jobs.

The June report indicates that robust jobs growth is coupled with consistently strong wage growth. Nominal average hourly earnings rose by 3.1 percent over the past 12 months, marking the 11th straight month that that year-over-year wage gains were at or above 3 percent. Prior to 2018, nominal average hourly wage gains had not reached 3 percent since April 2009.

There is evidence that real wages are also growing when taking inflation into account. Based on the most recent Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data from May, inflation in the past year was 1.5 percent, and based on the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) price data from May, inflation in the past year was 1.8 percent. (June inflation data is not yet available for either series.)

A separate household survey released by BLS shows that the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7 percent in June—a change that is not significant—making June the 16th consecutive month at or below 4 percent. The Asian-American unemployment rate dropped to 2.1 percent, its lowest rate since at least 2003 when the current series began. The African-American unemployment rate ticked down by 0.2 percentage point to 6.0 percent, just above the May 2018 series low of 5.9 percent. (Consistent measurement began in 1972.)

There was also good news on the labor force participation rate—which includes people who are working and those looking for work—edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 62.9 percent and is 0.2 percentage point above the rate when the President was elected in November 2016. The labor force participation rate for prime-age adults (ages 25-54) which largely avoids the demographic effects of the aging population increased by 0.1 percentage point to at 82.2 percent—0.8 percentage points above its rate in November 2016 when the President was elected.

A prosperous economy stimulated by pro-worker policies is pulling workers off the sidelines. Despite the continued low unemployment rates over the past year, some workers may still be on the sidelines, a situation economists refer to as “labor slack.” Because labor market slack still exists, employment can continue to rise and the economy can continue to grow as workers reenter the labor force. In the second quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from out of the labor force rather than from unemployment.

The June employment data portray an American economy that is humming along briskly, with a continued low unemployment rate, historic trends in job growth, and rising wages.

Opening Remarks by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross at the 2019 SelectUSA Investment Summit

Thank you, Karen, for that kind introduction, and a good morning to all of you. Welcome to the Sixth Annual SelectUSA Investment Summit.

Thank you, everyone, for making the trip to Washington, D.C., to learn about the great investment opportunities throughout the United States.

We appreciate the time you are taking from your busy schedules to investigate opportunities to grow your enterprises here in the most innovative country in the world.

The response to this year’s Summit was so strong that we had to add overflow rooms due to capacity limitations. Even with that, we had to turn down some late responders.

Thank you to the state economic development delegations who are here and to the country delegations in attendance.

We very much appreciate the support of all our embassies in recruiting attendees, and the 120 members of the U.S. diplomatic corps who have traveled with your country delegations to Washington for this event.

And a special thank you to the nearly 1,400 foreign delegates from 78 markets, who are here today. We hope that you have a productive next two days.

We are also thrilled that four Cabinet Secretaries, and Larry Kudlow, Director of the White House National Economic Council, will be addressing the conference; as will Ivanka Trump, who will be with us tomorrow.

It’s a clear demonstration of the commitment of the entire U.S. government to embracing and encouraging your investments in the United States.

We also have eight Governors attending:

The Governor of Indiana, Eric Holcomb;
Governor Matt Bevin, from Kentucky;
Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan;
Mississippi Governor, Phil Bryant;
The Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt;
Mike DeWine, the Governor of Ohio;
Puerto Rico Governor, Ricardo Rossello;
and the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer.

All of them are interested in hosting you in their states.

This is my third Investment Summit. I look forward to it every year. It is an exciting three days.
Please use this event as a springboard to visit the states to learn just how committed they are to working with you to develop new business opportunities.

Nowhere else but in the United States will you find such an advantageous mixture of innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity, a dedication to hard work, and an incredibly high quality of life.

Our unique, dynamic population of 328 million provides companies with direct links to every global market.

Opening operations in the United States provides your company with access to the wealthiest and most discerning consumers in the world. Being close to American customers drives the digitization of your operations and your products, making them more appealing everywhere in the world you sell them.

The SelectUSA Investment Summit is the largest annual economic development conference in the United States. The companies and economic development officials in attendance make connections and help create the successes that come from the event.

Past attendees have announced almost $104 billion in new investment projects within five years of attending the Investment Summit.

Those projects support more than 167,000 American jobs.

That tells me a few things:

First, that the executives who attend this event are ready to grow and renew their companies.
Second, that companies know that investing in the United States will help assure their long-term competitive viability, not only in the United States, but also in their home countries.

Foreign firms who have invested in the United States know that if they are successful here, they will be successful anywhere else in the world.

And, third, the Summit provides our economic development leaders from the states and territories with a unique opportunity to work with your company and, perchance, to close a deal.

Year after year, this Summit brings the right people together in one place to meet and develop life-changing partnerships, and life-long friendships.

It is important for you to know that America is, and always will be, open for business.

We are a society that welcomes new companies from abroad, in ways that most foreigners find surprising, and refreshing.

We are a society that embraces free-market capitalism as an economic model that fosters optimism, and opportunity for all. More than 7 million Americans are gainfully working for foreign-owned firms in the United States.

Any company that has opened a facility in the United States knows just how hard Americans work.
They are dedicated to learning and using the latest technologies to grow existing businesses, and to help start new ones.

The United States welcomes foreign companies of all sizes, and in a wide range of industries.
French sporting goods retailer “Decathlon” attended last year’s Investment Summit and recently opened its first outlet in Emeryville, California.

The company said the SelectUSA Investment Summit provided it with the legal, regulatory, and economic understanding it needed to succeed.

While at the Summit, the French company also connected with officials from the California economic development community. These officials continue to support the company and its indigenous growth.

In just a year, Decathalon added 97 workers in California, and has access to the incredibly powerful consumer base on the West Coast.

On the larger side of the size spectrum, South Korean energy storage company SK Innovation attended SelectUSA Investment Summits in 2013 and 2018.

Just three months ago, I had the honor of attending the groundbreaking of SK’s $1.7 billion electric-battery facility in Commerce, Georgia.

I was joined by SK Innovation CEO and President Jun Kim; Executive Vice Chairman, Jae-won Chey; Georgia Governor Brian Kemp; and leaders from across Georgia to celebrate the company’s investment in Georgia.

Taiwan’s Lung-Soon Ocean Group is creating 50 jobs in Astoria, Oregon, in a $10 million pet food processing plant that will open next year.

Canada’s New Flyer opened a new $30 million, 300,000-square-foot bus manufacturing facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and will hire 350 workers.

The company from Pakistan, Midwest Fertilizer, is opening a $2.4 billion fertilizer plant in Indianapolis next year.

Finally, South Korea-based LOTTE Chemical USA entered a joint venture with Texas-based Westlake Chemical Corporation for a $3.1 billion ethane cracker complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The facility will employ 250 people directly, and support 2,000 indirect jobs in the area.
The United States welcomes all of these companies with open arms, just as it has welcomed thousands of other foreign-owned companies that have committed more than $4 trillion in FDI in the United States.

The United States is the world’s biggest destination for FDI.

And there are good reasons why.

We have reduced the corporate tax rate; provided 100 percent of capex; and created Opportunity Zones — all to substantially improve the competitiveness of U.S.-based producers.

We are eliminating senseless regulations that hinder your investment in new plants and equipment.

We are defending American producers from foreign nations that dump government-subsidized products into the U.S. and global markets, or that have refused to play by the global rules of trade.
We will protect your most strategic asset: your intellectual property. We will staunchly defend your business from nations that are selling fakes and counterfeits.

And we are training a new generation of skilled workers.

Ivanka Trump will describe our new worker and training programs later in the summit.

These pro-business and workforce policies are paying off.

America continues to astound the world with its economic growth rates.

At 3.6 percent, our unemployment rate is lower than it has been in decades, and incomes are finally on the rise.

The United States remains a land of opportunity.

For the seventh straight year, global CEOs ranked the U.S. at the top of A.T. Kearney’s FDI Confidence Index.

This is due in large part to our openness to new ideas, and to investment from companies like yours.

Taking advantage of everything available to you at this Investment Summit will positively change both the course of your business, and your own personal life trajectory.

The networking and match-making sessions will give you the chance to reach new partners, and to meet people who are here for only one reason: To help you succeed.

Our plenary discussions and breakouts provide you with the viewpoints of government officials and the world’s top business leaders who have successfully navigated the path to growth in the United States.

I wish you all the best of success this week in making contacts and working together.Please, take time to visit all of the booths in the exhibition hall. Each has something unique to offer.

The representatives here from the states and territories are looking forward to working with you.
Thank you and welcome again to this exciting event.

Ivanka Trump and Larry Kudlow to Provide Keynote Remarks at 2019 SelectUSA Investment Summit

WASHINGTON – Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow will deliver keynote remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit on June 11-12, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced today. The Investment Summit, hosted by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, is the premier Federal event showcasing business investment opportunities available throughout the United States to global leaders.

Kudlow will deliver lunch remarks on June 11. Trump will speak on a workforce development panel on June 12.

“This Administration’s policies are further solidifying the United States as the premier location to do business,” Kudlow said. “The SelectUSA Investment Summit is an excellent platform to tell a global audience that investing in the United States is a critical step to doing business in the modern global economy, and I am excited to be a part of it.”

“While President’s pro-growth policies have attracted the attention of business leaders and entrepreneurs around the world, it’s our incomparable workforce that often seals the deal for new investment projects. I’m proud to join Secretary Ross at this year’s SelectUSA Investment Summit to discuss the unparalleled opportunity to invest in our roaring economy and how we are working to ensure our workforce is equipped with the skills and talents for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” Trump said.

“The SelectUSA Investment Summit is where global business potential meets business opportunity here in the United States,” Secretary Ross said. “We are proud that these White House leaders will be joining this year’s SelectUSA Investment Summit and sharing the message that this is the best place in the world to do business.”

Secretary Ross and Ivanka Trump are co-chairs of the National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board which seeks to bring more Americans off the sidelines and into the workforce by improving jobs data transparency, skills-based hiring and training, advancing opportunities for lifelong learning, and promoting multiple pathways to family-sustaining careers.

Ross and Trump will also join Investment Summit business attendees as they sign the Pledge to America’s Workers. The Pledge is a commitment to expand programs that educate, train, and reskill American workers from high school to near retirement. Since President Trump signed the Executive Order, more than 200 companies and organizations have signed the Pledge, contributing to over 8.9 million new education and training opportunities for American students and workers over the next five years.

The annual Investment Summit will be held June 10-12 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Participants from the previous five Summits have announced more than $103.6 billion in greenfield investment projects in the United States within five years of attending. These projects directly support more than 167,000 U.S. jobs.

Registration is open and already includes more than 2,800 attendees from over 70 international markets and 49 U.S. states and territories. Featured speakers include Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, governors from eight states, and senior executives from companies including Hitachi, Siemens, and Softbank.

The United States is home to more foreign direct investment (FDI) than any other country in the world, with a total stock of more than $4 trillion of investment according to the latest data. FDI supports nearly 14 million American jobs, and is responsible for $370 billion in U.S. goods exports.