Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Kurt Tong will be visiting Sydney and Perth this week to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the importance of US–Australian economic ties in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tong will speak at a public event in Sydney on Friday 14 August on the future of US economic engagement in the Asia–Pacific, presented by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and the US Consulate General Sydney. In the context of continuing multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, Tong will look at how Australia and the US engage with China and how the alliance between the two countries can facilitate outreach to growing markets in South-East Asia.

Tong has been an economic affairs diplomat for the State Department since 1990, having previously held positions as the US Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo, Japan. He will travel to Sydney following events at the US Studies Centre's sister institution, the Perth USAsia Centre, including a discussion with Australia's Ambassador to the United States Kim Beazley.