Good afternoon, and thank you for having me here today. I am grateful to Chairman John Jovanovic for the invitation, and to the entire team at the Export-Import Bank for your important work on behalf of the American people and American businesses.
Economic security is national security, and thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the United States has never been more secure.
For centuries, a nation’s military has provided the foundation for its survival and served as the ultimate guarantor of its stability and prosperity.
The United States remains the preeminent military power in the world, and our alliances have long served as a shield for our collective defense. But in the 21st century, security has evolved as the global economy has grown in size, speed, and interconnectedness.
Today, our economic strength stands alongside our military might as a pillar of America’s national security. And alongside military alliances, we are building something just as vital on the economic front: an economic shield that protects supply chains, secures critical resources, and reinforces the resilience of the United States and its allies.
At a time when international competitors are deploying state-backed financing and coordinated industrial strategies, we must do so as well, and with even greater strength and efficacy. President Trump is leading a long-overdue economic rebalancing to ensure that American companies compete on fair terms in the international arena. Our Administration’s focus is on supporting exporters, enabling market access, and mitigating risk.
Success in this endeavor depends on aligning our nation’s innovation, production, and exports with international demand. Together with the U.S. Treasury Department, EXIM enables all three by translating our domestic economic strength into global economic security.
Just as we stand by our allies militarily, President Trump and his Administration are resolute in defending and advancing our shared economic interests.
What we have witnessed over the past month with Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz demonstrate that the global economy is a central arena of competition.
Roughly 20% of the world’s energy supply passes through that narrow waterway each day. Iran has sought to threaten the Strait and spike global energy prices, tighten supply chains, and exploit critical economic dependencies.
This strategy underscores how supply chain resilience across key sectors, bolstered by domestic manufacturing and access to energy, capital, and technologies, plays a vital role in our security alongside conventional military capability.
The pro-growth policies that President Trump has advanced since the beginning of his second term—especially those promoting energy abundance—have helped the United States withstand these recent shocks.
Countries around the world want to buy their energy from a reliable partner to prevent critical chokepoints like what we have seen in the Strait of Hormuz. Our Administration is focused on harnessing the opportunity at hand. Domestic energy production is stronger than ever, as America continues to lead the world in terms of output.
Meanwhile, foreign demand for American energy is surging, especially from the EU, which imported a record 57% of its liquefied natural gas from the U.S. in 2025. Asian nations, too, signed over $56 billion in new energy deals with the U.S. in 2025, and we see even more momentum around the world.
Critical minerals is another sector in which this Administration has significantly moved the needle. Over the past few decades, supply chains for these resources have become among the most concentrated in the world, creating risk and exposure for the semiconductors, energy infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and defense systems they underpin.
That is why the United States Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, also known as “Project Vault,” is an essential policy initiative. It is a powerful example of how Treasury and EXIM can work together with the private sector to make America’s economy safer, more secure, and more robust.
The launch of Project Vault in February was an important step toward securing our critical-minerals supply chains by harnessing the skills and resources of the private sector to create a market-based solution that strengthens critical-minerals supply chains and improves the resilience of the U.S. economy.
EXIM’s financing of Project Vault unlocks $12 billion in funding for critical-minerals procurement, including nearly $2 billion in equity from private capital markets.
This strategic reserve will allow U.S. manufacturers to continue production even in the face of shocks to our supply of critical minerals. That will benefit both American workers and American businesses.
Project Vault and similar initiatives reflect a broader shift toward building supply chains around resilience. We are pursuing a more integrated model of economic statecraft, in which public and private capital align to reinforce national power. This forms an economic shield, which will serve as the new template for U.S. policy for decades to come. It also closely reflects EXIM’s theme for this conference: “Buy American, Build the Future.”
These two aims are distinct but complementary. The strength that we develop at home determines the credibility that we project abroad. The opportunities that we secure abroad, in turn, support the strength that we cultivate here at home.
“Buy American,” therefore, speaks to our imperative to renew our domestic capacity. To invest in advanced manufacturing—and the workforce that sustains it. To prioritize smart and sound regulation. To ensure, in short, that critical industries can operate at scale within the United States.
“Build the Future,” meanwhile, is the natural expression of that strength—realized when American goods, technology, and capital reach markets around the world. To “Build the Future” is to open doors for American exporters. To secure our supply chains. To make clear that buying American is both the right purchase and the wise one.
While we are making progress, as you have heard throughout this conference, much work still remains across several key sectors to achieve true economic security:
First, semiconductors: advanced production remains highly concentrated and difficult to replicate, leaving supply chains vulnerable to disruption. While we have seen renewed momentum toward reshoring over the past year, Taiwan still produces 90% of the world’s highest-value chips.
Second, pharmaceuticals: supply chains remain overly reliant on foreign sources across the production lifecycle. In fact, up to 90% of U.S. medicines—and the active pharmaceutical ingredients that underpin them—come from India and China today, despite domestic investment and reshoring efforts.
And finally, advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence: we are at an inflection point that will shape the next phase of the global economy for generations to come. We have the greatest innovation ecosystem in world history, and in this technological arms race, the United States must continue to lead.
President Trump has positioned the United States to do exactly that: to maintain dominance in innovation, production, and exports. And in so doing, to foster a more resilient economy and a more secure nation.
We at Treasury are unyielding in our support of this effort, but our success depends upon the people in this room. You all have the power to determine whether America leads or falls behind in the next decade. Your actions will make the difference.
Through partnership across the Administration, Treasury, EXIM, and our private-sector counterparts, we can deliver a more prosperous future for the American people and American businesses.
Thank you.
###