>> The President:
Good morning, everybody.
Before I make an announcement
about our efforts to stand up
for U.S. businesses
and U.S. workers,
I'd like to say a few
words about the situation
in Afghanistan.
Over the weekend,
as many of you know,
there was a tragic incident
in which a number of Afghan
civilians were killed.
What I've made to President
Karzai when I spoke to him
is that the United States takes
this as seriously as if it was
our own citizens and our own
children who were murdered.
We're heartbroken over
the loss of innocent life.
The killing of innocent
civilians is outrageous
and it's unacceptable.
It's not who we
are as a country,
and it does not
represent our military.
And for that reason, I've
directed the Pentagon to make
sure that we spare no effort in
conducting a full investigation.
I can assure the American people
and the Afghan people that we
will follow the facts
wherever they lead us,
and we will make sure that
anybody who was involved is
held fully accountable with
the full force of the law.
Yesterday, I met with General
Allen and Ambassador Crocker,
who were here in Washington, and
I've extraordinary confidence in
them and in the many Americans
who are serving in Afghanistan
and who have made extraordinary
sacrifices to be there.
Today I'll be meeting with
Prime Minister Cameron,
who is part of our broad
coalition serving in
Afghanistan, and we'll have an
opportunity to consult about the
way forward as we prepare for
the NATO summit in Chicago later
this spring.
So make no mistake, we have a
strategy that will allow us to
responsibly wind down this war.
We're steadily transitioning to
the Afghans who are moving into
the lead, and that's
going to allow us to
bring our troops home.
Already we're scheduled to
remove 23,000 troops by the
end of this summer, followed by
-- following the 10,000 that we
withdrew last year.
And meanwhile, we will
continue the work of devastating
al Qaeda's leadership and
denying them a safe haven.
There's no question that we
face a difficult challenge in
Afghanistan, but I am confident
that we can continue the work of
meeting our objectives,
protecting our country
and responsibly bringing
this war to a close.
Now, one of the things that I
talked about during the State
of the Union address was making
America more competitive in the
global economy.
The good news is that we have
the best workers and the best
businesses in the world.
They turn out the best products.
And when the playing
field is level,
they'll always be able to
compete and succeed against
every other country on Earth.
But the key is to make sure
that the playing field is level.
And frankly, sometimes it's not.
I will always try to work
our differences through
with other countries.
We prefer dialogue.
That's especially true
when it comes to key
trading partners like China.
We've got a constructive
economic relationship with
China, and whenever possible, we
are committed to working with
them to addressing our concerns.
But when it is necessary, I will
take action if our workers and
our businesses are being
subjected to unfair practices.
Since I took office, we've
brought trade cases against
China at nearly twice the rate
as the last administration,
and these actions are
making a difference.
For example, we halted an
unfair surge in Chinese tires,
which has helped put over
1,000 American workers back
on the job.
But we haven't stopped there.
Two weeks ago, I created a Trade
Enforcement Unit to aggressively
investigate any unfair trade
practices taking place anywhere
in the world.
And as they ramp
up their efforts,
our competitors should be on
notice: You will not get away
with skirting the rules.
When we can, we will rally
support from our allies.
And when it makes sense to
act on our own, we will.
I just signed a bill to help
American companies that are
facing unfair
foreign competition.
These companies employ tens
of thousands of Americans in
nearly 40 states.
Because of subsidies from
foreign governments,
some of their foreign
competitors are selling
products at an
artificially low price.
That needs to stop.
This morning, we're taking
an additional step forward.
We're bringing a new trade case
against China -- and we're being
joined by Japan and some
of our European allies.
This case involves something
called rare earth materials,
which are used by American
manufacturers to make high-tech
products like advanced batteries
that power everything from
hybrid cars to cell phones.
We want our companies
building those products
right here in America.
But to do that, American
manufacturers need to have
access to rare earth materials
-- which China supplies.
Now, if China would simply
let the market work on its own,
we'd have no objections.
But their policies currently are
preventing that from happening.
And they go against the
very rules that China
agreed to follow.
Being able to manufacture
advanced batteries and hybrid
cars in America is too
important for us to stand
by and do nothing.
We've got to take control
of our energy future,
and we can't let that energy
industry take root in some other
country because they were
allowed to break the rules.
So our administration will bring
this case against China today,
and we will keep working every
single day to give American
workers and American
businesses a fair shot
in the global economy.
We're going to make sure that
this isn't a country that's just
known for what we consume.
America needs to get back to
doing what it's always done best
-- a country that builds and
sells products all over the
world that are stamped with the
proud words: "Made in America."
That's how we create good,
middle-class jobs at home,
and that's how we're going
to create an economy that's
built to last.
Thank you very much, everybody.
