As Prepared for Delivery
Good afternoon. I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to meet with Minister Marcel today.
Our meeting today—and my trip to Chile—come in the context of an already strong bilateral economic relationship.
The U.S. and Chile have had a Free Trade Agreement in place for 20 years, enabling substantial trade and investment between our two countries. And just last year a Bilateral Tax Treaty entered into force.
This treaty is a recognition of the significant investments that Americans have in Chile and the welcome investments Chileans are making in the United States.
In fact, our tax treaty with Chile is the first such treaty the U.S. has entered into in a decade.
Now, we are building on this foundation and further deepening our economic ties and our collaboration across a wide range of areas.
In my meeting with Minister Marcel today, we discussed the priorities shared by the U.S. and Chile and the many additional opportunities for further collaboration between our countries.
This starts with each of our country’s ambitious climate goals and the tremendous joint opportunity to build resilient and green supply chains.
At home in the United States, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act are fueling massive investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing.
For example, tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act make it cheaper to invest in energy-efficiency upgrades and buy electric vehicles.
Chile is pursuing its own impressive agenda, including leading the way as the first sovereign issuer of green bonds in the region. I know that Chile recently received an award from Latin Finance on its impressive program for sustainable bonds.
Chile’s leadership in this space was on display today in the fascinating discussion I had with Minister Marcel and several private sector firms that are helping to drive Chile’s green transition.
I commend the minister and his whole team for their strong efforts to keep Chile at the vanguard of this exciting space.
Furthering both our climate agendas—and our energy security—also depends on building green and resilient supply chains, involving both the U.S. and Chile.
As a leading producer of both copper and lithium, Chile has a critical role to play in the supply chains that will power our world’s transition to clean energy. American companies are investing. And we see opportunities to further integrate our supply chains with benefits for both our economies.
Our ongoing and potential collaboration also extends far beyond clean energy.
As one example, I affirm Treasury’s interest in supporting Chile’s commitment to increasing foreign direct investment and protecting its national security through continued collaboration on investment screening best practices.
And there is significant scope for Chile and the United States to work together in the context of multilateral forums such as the Inter-American Development Bank.
We are working together, for example, to approve a new ambitious Institutional Strategy for the Bank next month, as well as a historic capital increase that would double the size of its private sector arm, IDB Invest.
These efforts will provide crucial financing to the region, including to advance investments in clean energy.
There are of course many other areas of possible cooperation as well.
I again congratulate Minister Marcel on his leadership and look forward to further collaboration between the U.S. Treasury Department and Ministry of Finance as we continue to move forward on our many shared priorities.
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