By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury should strategically use its tools to respond to authoritarian governments and fight unfair economic practices in China and elsewhere, Wally Adeyemo, nominated for the No. 2 job at the U.S. Treasury, will tell senators on Tuesday.
In testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Adeyemo will also call for Washington to work closely with allies to “confront those that threaten our economic and national security.”
If confirmed, Adeyemo, a former senior adviser at asset manager BlackRock Inc, would be the first Black deputy secretary of the Treasury. He served as a deputy national security adviser under Democratic President Barack Obama, and later headed the Obama Foundation, which is overseeing work on the former president’s library.
Adeyemo, who was born in Nigeria and came to the United States with his parents as a baby, mapped out his domestic and international policy objectives, vowing to work on ensuring equal access to economic opportunity for all Americans.
“Taking steps to ensure that all Americans share in our prosperity is not only a moral imperative, it is essential to our long-term economic growth,” he said in the testimony, which was seen by Reuters.
He said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had asked him to focus on three critical areas, if confirmed: boosting U.S. competitiveness, reclaiming America’s credibility as a global leader, and protecting U.S. citizens from threats, foreign and domestic.
Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has called Adeyemo “eminently qualified” for the job and vowed to get the nomination through the committee as quickly as possible.
The hearing will start at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT), the committee said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
