, director for the american chamber of commerce injakarta earlier, and i asked what we could expect fromk the visit is significant in that we haven't had a visit from an american commerce secretary to jakarta in many, many yea rs. secretary to jakarta in many, many years. and the fact that the us has put this on his agenda, and he's coming with a delegation and business leaders the right message to the market and investors in ja ka rta to the market and investors in jakarta that the us is paying attention. we may see some progress on some of the issues that have held investment back from time to time in indonesia. you mentioned the senior delegation of business executives, his travelling with, of course. will be from boeing. how do you think the trouble will play out for that firm considering all the backlash it has faced over the crushes over its 737 max aircraft, one on an indonesian carrier? the tragedy of the lion air plan because with the boeing 737 max lingers on here. we had the anniversary of that tragedy just last week. i know the company is doing its best to make amends, apolog

multinational companies are based there and not china, so a caught up with tara joseph from the american chamber of commerce terms of the special trade status, it means that hong kongis trade status, it means that hong kong is not liable to the type of tariff wars that we are seeing between the us and china, and we have rule of law here, it's a very open, operating environment where there is excellent cooperation between the us and hong kong. there is excellent cooperation between the us and hong kongm there is excellent cooperation between the us and hong kong. it is obviously very important to those businesses operating in hong kong and this new bill will require an annual review on whether hong kong remains sufficiently independent of beijing to enjoy its status, and if the president finds them into law, this could really impact the ongoing trade talks between the us and china. mariko oi, for now, thank you. now let's brief you on some other business stories: the value of wework‘s debt has slumped to a new record low after the office sharing firm announced plans to cut 2,400 jobs. according to data repor

american sales, including rubber bullets and tear gas. the decision is complicated as washington needs to wait how it could also impact ongoing trade negotiations. the president of the american chamber of commercets. well, overall right now the impact is largely symbolic and psychological. 0bviously symbolic and psychological. obviously it puts the spotlight even more firmly on hong kong, and this city has been getting a lot of attention lately. for american companies operating here, right now the fixation is on the day today, it‘s been hard to get after work, productivity has been low and there are productivity has been low and there a re lots of productivity has been low and there are lots of anxious people around as well as plans if the protests really do continue —— the focus has been on matters. but it does open up the doorjust a crack matters. but it does open up the door just a crack to matters. but it does open up the doorjust a crack to thinking about the hong kong policy act, which is really the gold standard and the important aspect of us— hong kong relations. this bill doesn‘t really change it by certifying it every year, itjust change it by certifying it every year, it just means c

as well as we have been partnering with the san francisco african-american chamber of commerce and that was another great event cohosted by caltrans with the san francisco african-american chamber and associate patient with the oakland african-american chamber of commerce in silicon valley. the event was held in bayview brought together many public agencies with companies seeking certification along with companies that are seeking serve certification as disadvantaged, small, local or veteran business enterprises to learn about upcoming contracting opportunities. thank you very much. >> thank you. are there any questions. any members of the public that would like to testify on this item? seeing none. public comment is closed. could you please read the consent agenda. prior to doing that can we have a motion to excuse commissioners haney and brown made by commissioner mandelman seconded by commissioner stefani. consent agenda please? >> items 4-7 consent agenda, now being considered for final approval. the meeting items are considered routine. if a member objects, any of the items can be

to the embassy which is unusual because that would usually be a 1st stop going to the american chamber of commerce going to the u.s. embassy get the lay of the land see how we could provide assistance. and was that source of frustration ever express to you or did you just learn that separately. source of frustration. on whose part on firm in part us. i don't know that they were frustrated and i mean i of her straight away well you mentioned that there were there business interests and you know i asked you whether you had been stymied by anything in particular that you had advocated for or your road blocked to them being successful i wondered if there was any connection i had never met them when when i heard those names for the 1st time which was in february of 2019 i asked my team the econ in the commercial sections are the ones who would usually meet with american businessmen and women and nobody had had had heard of them so i can conclude is that it was the general general u.s. policies that we were implementing about might have been of concern to them and any point did did you ever try to reach

to the embassy which is unusual because that would usually be a first stop going to the american chamber of commerceto the us embassy get the lay of land see how we can provide assistance. >>source of frustration ever express to you or did you just learn that separately. >>a source of frustration for me on whose part. >>and from an parness. >>i don't know that they were frustrated and i mean i. they have business interests in you know i asked you whether you may have been stymied by anything in particular that you had advocated for. >>to them the unsuccessful i wondered if there's any connection. >>i've never met them. when i heard those names for the first time which was in february of 20 19 i asked my team. the economy commercial sections are the ones who would usually meet with american businessmen. and and nobody had had had heard of them. so i can conclude is that it was the general. general us policies that we were implemented. might have been of concern to them and any point the did you ever. >>try to reach out to the prosecutor general mister lutsenko. find out why he was. kerrygold has a ta

current and former chinese officials as well as the american chamber of commerce. information out of the roundtable according to the global times that china preferred in a trade deal to have simultaneous roll back of tariffs to have a trade deal and the u.s. has not had a positive response related to that. u.s. business leaders in the roundtable told the folks there that the u.s. has not seen a reasonable benefit from a trade relationship with china as it stands now. president donald trump says he wants to fix that trade relationship going forward. so far no phase one deal on paper here in the united states. the president trying to get that deal down. the administration hoped to have it finished by last weekend. president trump addressed this during his cabinet meeting. listen. >> china is going to have to make a deal i like, if they don't that's it, okay? i'm very happy with china right now. they're paying us billions and billions, we'll be over $100 billion in the not-too-distant future. china never gave us 10 cents. if we don't make a deal with china, i will rais

business leaders and the american chamber of commerce represented. ey would like to have simultaneous rollback of tariffs in order to get a trade deal with the united states. the u.s. has not had a positive reaction to that, they say. u.s. business leaders at the roundtable says the u.s. has not seen enough trade benefit from a trade relationship with china so far. president trump said he's trying to fix the imbalance. so far, no phase one deal on paper. the administration hoped to have it finished last week end. president trump addressed this. >> china's going to have to make a deal that i like. if they don't, that's it. i'm very happy with china right now, they're paying us billions and billions, we'll be over $100 billion in the not too distant future. china never gave us that. if we don't make a deal with china, i'll just raise the tariffs even higher. >> reporter: on december 15th, 15% tariffs on basically everything else china imports are scheduled to go into effect unless possibly there is a phase one deal on paper. now, our chinese sources are

the embassy, which is unusual, because that would usually be a first stop, going to the american chamber of commerce, going to the u.s. embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we could provide assistance. >> and was that source of frustration ever expressed to you or did you just learn that separately? >> source of frustration, what do you mean? on whose part? >> on fruman and parnas. >> i don't know that they were frustrated. i mean, frustrated by what? >> well, you mentioned that they had business interests. i asked you whether they may have been stymied by anything in particular that you had advocated for or you were a roadblock to them being successful. i wondered if there was any connection. >> i had never met them. when i heard those names for the first time, which was in february of 2019, i asked my team, the econ and commercial sections are the ones that would usually meet with american businessmen and women, and nobody had heard of them. so all i can conclude is that it was the general u.s. policies that we were implementing that might have been of concern to them. >> at any point did you

going to be american chamber of commerce, going to the u.s. embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we can provide assistance. >> was that a source of frustration ever express to you, or did you learn that separately? >> source of frustration, what do you mean? on whose part? >> on fruman and parnas. >> i don't know that they were frustrated. frustrated by what? >> you mentioned they had business interests. i ask you whether they had been stymied by anything in particular that you had advocated for, or that you were a roadblock to them being successful. i wondered if there was any connection. >> i had never met them. when i heard those names for the first time, which was in february of 2019, i asked my team, the econ and commercial sections would usually meet with american businessma businessmen. nobody had heard of them. so all i could conclude was that it was the general u.s. policies that we were implementing that might have been of concern to them. >> at any point did you ever tried to reach out to the prosecutor general, salute to mr. lu

i'm the president of the san francisco african-american chamber of commerce. we're glad to have you, tom, as the new executive director. we do have interest in diversity, equity and inclusion. contracting and as well as employment. we look forward to having a dialogue with you. thank you. >> okay. any additional public comment? >> could i just -- i just wanted to thank the public commenter for her experience with the enforcement cameras and thank you for your maturity about accepting that ticket and understanding why we do that enforcement. and director maguire, you could confirm, if i misstate that. i do believe it's a state law, which prohibits us from using those forward-facing cameras for anything else. but that it is perhaps something that the state level vision zero task force is one of the things that they are looking into? >> yes. that task force is primarily focused on speed cameras. but the idea of automating and making bike lane enforcement more effective is being discussed there as well. >> okay. thank you. thank you. next item. >> clerk: madam cha

of market records. edward lawrence, following this on trade front. what are you hearing? reporter: this may be moving the market. a roundtable with american business leaders, current and former chinese fishessals and american chamber of commerce. out of the round table there is big differences with the trade relationship with china. one example from the u.s. side. they say there was no real huge benefit to have this trade relationship with china, having china within the wto. chinese officials during that roundtable saying no, that is not the case. in fact china, u.s. and world benefited from china being in the wto. chinese made the case that china entering it benefited everybody. roundtable officials according to the global times there may be big differences coming up with a trade deal in terms of tariffs you talked about. global times says china's precondition to the trade deal would like the trade tariffs rolled back simultaneously. but the negotiators from the u.s. have not given a positive sons to that our chinese trade sources said china wants tariffs rolled back as phases are completed. those sources are telling us u.s. offered to roll back some tariffs but keep majority in place until china meets milestones in the agre

the embassy which is unusual because that would usually be a first stop, going to the american chamber of commerce, going to the u.s. embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we can provide assistance. >> was that source of frustration ever expressed to you or did you learn that separately. >> source of frustration on whose part? >> freeman and parvos. >> i don't know that they were frustrated. frustrated by what? >> you mentioned they had business interests. i asked whether they had been stymy by anything in particular you had advocated for or you were a roadblock to them being successful and i wondered if there was any connection. >> i had never met them. when i heard those names for the first time, this was in -- which was in february of 2019, i asked my team, the econ and commercial sections are the ones who would usually meet with american business men and women and no one had heard of them. so all i could conclude was it was the general u.s. policies that we were implementing that might have been a concern of them. >> at any point did you try to reach out to the prosecutor general, mr. luse

business leaders, former and current chinese officials as well as the american chamber of commerce.ated there, said they didn't see enough benefit from a relationship, a trade relationship with china, as they should have. they pointed to the wto ascension or adding china to the wto. chinese officials in the roundtable, saying adding china to the wto helped the entire world. the roundtable also saying they're encouraged, this is according to the global times, encouraged by the talks that are happening now but chinese officials out of that roundtable say, that any trade agreement must have tariffs rolled back on both sides at the same time as these deals are being made. those chinese officials according to the global times, saying that the u.s. has not given a positive response to the chinese wanting that to happen. this is all predicated on the global times but a roundtable that apparently happened in china ending not too long ago. back to you, stu. stuart: that pushed the market down a little. not that much. we're down 50 points on the dow. edward, thank you very much indeed. >>> le

the embassy which is unusual, because that would usually be a first stop going to the american chamber of commerce, going to guess embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we can provide assistance. >> and was set source of frustration ever express to you or did you just learned that separately? >> frustration, what do you mean? on whose part? >> on truman and parnas. >> i don't know that they were frustrated. frustrated by what? >> well, you mentioned that their business interests and as to whether they had been stymied by anything in particular that you would advocated for or you were a roadblock to them being successful. i wondered if there's any connection? >> i never met them. when i heard the same for the first time, , which was in february of 2019, i asked my team, the econ and the commercial sectors are the ones who would usually meet with american businessman, and women, and nobody had heard of them. so all i conclude is that it was the general, general u.s. policies that we were implementing, that might've been of concern to the. >> at any point did you ever try to reach out to the pros

the embassy which is unusual, because that would usually be a first stop going to the american chamber of commerce, going to guess embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we can provide assistance. >> and was set source of frustration ever express to you or did you just learned that separately? >> frustration, what do you mean? on whose part? >> on truman and parnas. >> i don't know that they were frustrated. frustrated by what? >> well, you mentioned that their business interests and as to whether they had been stymied by anything in particular that you would advocated for or you were a roadblock to them being successful. i wondered if there's any connection? >> i never met them. when i heard the same for the first time, , which was in february of 2019, i asked my team, the econ and the commercial sectors are the ones who would usually meet with american businessman, and women, and nobody had heard of them. so all i conclude is that it was the general, general u.s. policies that we were implementing, that might've been of concern to the. >> at any point did you ever try to reach out to the pros

the embassy, which is unusual, because that would usually be a first stop, going to the american chamber of commerce, going to the u.s. embassy, get the lay of the land, see how we could provide assistance. castor: and was that source of frustration ever expressed to you, or did you just learn that separately? yovanovitch: source of frustration? what do you mean? castor: right. yovanovitch: on whose part? castor: on -- furman and parnas. yovanovitch: i -- i don't know that they were frustrated. i mean, i -- i... castor: ok. yovanovitch: frustrated by what? castor: well, you mentioned that there were -- they had business interests. and you know, i asked you whether you -- they had been stymied by anything in particular that you had advocated for, or you were a roadblock to -- to them being successful. i wondered if there was any connection. yovanovitch: i had never met them. when -- when i heard those names for the first time, which was in february of 2019, i asked my team. the econ and the commercial sections are the ones who would usually meet with american businessmen and women, and nobody had had

american free trade agreement, and help drive our trade relationship with mexico and canada in the 21st century. when you consider the number of american jobs that depend on trade with mexico and canada, the chamber of commerce cites a figure of 13 million jobs. 13 million jobs depend on that trade with mexico and canada. when you consider actions being taken by china to counter our interests all around the world, our reliance on north american partners is becoming increasingly important. the usmca ?olt -- is not only an opportunity to strengthen north america's position on the global stage but it is important to our economy right here in the united states. earlier this year the international trade commission provided some insight into what we can expect to see if this trade agreement is ratified. the usmca is expected to have a positive impact on every sector of the u.s. economy. within six years we're looking at 176,000 new american jobs and an increase in american gross domestic product of more than $68 billion. that's bigger than the proposed transpacific partnership trade agreement. we can also look forward to more than a $33 billion increase in exports and more than $31 billion in imports. we know many

supported by a road coalition of over 300 organizations including the american property casualty insurance association, the reinsurance association of america, the u.s. chamber of commerce and the american bankers association. i understand that the senate banking committee is considering identical legislation this week and i hope that we can act quickly to get this bill signed into law. i would urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation. thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california reserves. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. mchenry, is recognized. mr. mchenry: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. today i rise in support of h.r. 4634, the terrorism risk insurance program re-authorization act of 2019. the last 17 years, tria has provided important federal backstop for businesses that insure against the large-scale devastation scawsed -- caused by terrorist acts it provides much needed stability for the insurance market ensuring that small and large businesses alike have access to affordable coverage. without the federal government -- without feder