US woos Asia with plan to rival China’s ‘Belt and Road’

BANGKOK – Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the U.S. will invest and trade more in Asia as it rolls out an American plan to support “sustainable” projects in Asia.

The plan announced at a U.S. business forum in Bangkok is meant to rival China’s own multibillion dollar “Belt and Road” infrastructure program.

Ross is leading a high-powered trade mission in Asia and attended a regional summit that wrapped up Monday.

As he was talking up U.S. trade and investment, China opened a lavish import expo Tuesday in Shanghai showcasing its own eagerness to do business.

President Xi Jinping vowed to open Chinese markets further and clinked wine glasses with French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged that Beijing and Washington end the trade war that is clouding an already murky global economic outlook.