Milan, Italy - From April 11-13, Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg traveled to Milan, Italy, to attend the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Transport. The ministerial meeting brought together transportation and infrastructure ministers from Italy, Canada, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and the European Commission to discuss the future of mobility and global maritime connectivity in times of uncertainty.

Deputy Secretary Trottenberg also attended a special session devoted to cooperation with Ukraine where she reaffirmed the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's illegal war of aggression. She emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine in its efforts to maintain and strengthen its transportation system to bolster its economic recovery.

During the G7 sessions and bilateral meetings with government ministers, Deputy Secretary Trottenberg discussed threats to global supply chains - including the climate crisis, armed conflict, cyberattacks, and aging infrastructure - and the importance of deepening partnerships to strengthen global transportation networks. She discussed the U.S. Department of Transportation's response to the devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and thanked partner countries that have expressed their condolences. She also shared the United States' experience analyzing and minimizing future supply chain bottlenecks using the innovative Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative and joined G7 nations in supporting the creation of a G7 Working Group on Supply Chains.

In a maritime connectivity session, Deputy Secretary Trottenberg emphasized the need to work together with G7 partners to address the global mariner shortage, and the urgent need to ensure and improve the safety, security, and working conditions of this critical workforce, especially women. She shared that in the U.S., we have established Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce training and education, and are focusing on broadening our outreach to historically underserved communities.

Deputy Secretary Trottenberg also underscored the U.S. Department of Transportation's commitment to work with G7 nations to make transportation systems more resilient and highlighted the United States' progress in improving the safety, security, efficiency, and resilience of multimodal freight transport and delivering a once-in-a-generation investment in domestic infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

At the end of the ministerial meeting, Deputy Secretary Trottenberg joined the transportation ministers in adopting the joint Declaration "The Future of Mobility: Ensuring Global Connectivity in an Uncertain World".

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