Kentucky welcomes overseas investment
In a time of trade tension between the United States and China, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin is using a bottom-up approach to promote business.
Beijing and Washington are locked in a tit-for-tat trade conflict that has seen tariffs rise since April.
Tariffs have already affected many Kentucky products and will likely affect more of them, Bevin said at a news conference with visiting Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai.
The Republican governor said he is aware of but not worried about tariffs, believing that they will be worked out in time. Bevin said while he cannot directly affect tariff policies, he is doing what he can to communicate with the ambassador, promote Kentucky business and ramp up connections at the subnational level, in addition to enhancing peopleto-people relations.
“What I know is I can control ... who comes, whom we talk to, and what kind of personal relationships and business relationships we are establishing to ensure that, no matter what happens at this level, we will continue to become stronger and closer, nation to nation, and people to people,” he said.
After their meeting in Chicago early this year, Bevin invited Cui for a visit to further his state’s relationship with China and lay the groundwork for additional foreign investment.
Bevin said he will lead a delegation to Shanghai in November to attend the China International Import Expo, where people have “a massive appetite for products that are made in the United States”.
China ranked fourth among Kentucky’s export destinations in 2017, when exports surged by 60 percent to an alltime high of $2.81 billion. This was due in large part to a substantial increase in the number of vehicles shipped to China, including the Lincoln Navigator and MKC, according to the governor’s office.
Seven Chinese-owned companies employ nearly 8,200 people at seven facilities across the state, with more than 6,000 of those jobs located at GE Appliance Park in Louisville.
“We’ll have an announcement in the not too distant future about another significant investment, $100 million investment … from a Chineseowned company in a Kentucky-based operation,” Bevin said without specifying the company.
The governor talked about Kentucky’s advantages in energy costs, logistics and its massive investment in workforce training.
“We are hungry for business from China and from other places,” he said, adding that any company that wants to invest in Kentucky will have their inquiries expedited.
Cui said that during his visit he would listen to Kentucky businesspeople’s concerns and help them to expand their business in China.
The ambassador said he and Bevin had agreed to do their best to facilitate business and people-to-people relations between Kentucky and provinces in China.
“I think the business community in China has a strong interest in making investments ... in the United States, in general, and in Kentucky in particular,” Cui said.