Case introduces measure to strengthen economic partnerships with Pacific Islands

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a Hawai’i Democrat who represents the 1st Congressional District encompassing all of Honolulu, announced this week that he introduced the Promoting Regional Opportunities for Sustainable Prosperity and Economic Resilience in the Pacific Act — or PROSPER Act — to strengthen the economic partnership between the United States and Pacific Islands.

“The Pacific Islands, spread across the vast Pacific Ocean, are key partners in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and strengthening mutual economic, security and cultural ties across countries sharing mutual values and goals,” said Case in a release about the new proposed legislation, House Resolution 6619. “It is in our mutual best interests that we develop, maintain and grow our relationships across all levels, of which economic advancement is especially important.”

Case is a founding co-chairman of the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus.

He explained successive administrations have committed to deepening U.S. engagement in the Pacific Islands region, including through trade and investment. Most recently, the 2025 National Security Strategy asserts “the Indo-Pacific is already and will continue to be among the next century’s key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds.”

That reaffirms the nation’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and prioritizes winning the economic competition throughout the long term in the region.

“Additionally, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s 2025 Annual Report to Congress recommended that we strengthen economic assistance to Pacific Island countries to support U.S. national security interests and the priorities of partner countries,” Case said. “However, our economic toolkit for achieving our goals in the Pacific Islands needs to be strengthened.”

The congressman said many Pacific Island countries enjoyed preferential treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences when it was authorized, but the program lapsed in 2020.

Some of the Pacific Islands’ top exports to the United States — including tuna, cane sugar, ginger and taro — would be eligible for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences if it hadn’t lapsed.

Case noted that the Pacific Islands Forum — the leading multinational organization for the Pacific Islands region — prioritized the region’s need to build trade capacity and infrastructure as well as specifically advocated for preferential trade agreements given its lack of competitiveness because of its small national markets, isolation from the global market, high cost of operating and land and labor constraints.

The Pacific Islands Forum has encouraged the United States to extend duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences beyond preferences for least-developed beneficiary developing countries.

Case’s bill — acting on the Pacific Islands Forum’s expressed desire — extends duty-free treatment to certain goods imported from eligible Pacific Islands countries in the same manner afforded to least-developed beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences.

It also directs the president to develop a plan for negotiating free trade agreements with Pacific Islands countries and create a dedicated trade facilitation and capacity building program for the region, all of which will promote inclusive economic development, create sustainable job opportunities and improve standards of living in the region.

Additionally, the bill, if enacted, would serve U.S. national security interests in the region.

“Implementing such a program would come at a low cost to the [United States] while delivering a high strategic return, especially given the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] increased focus on expanding its influence in the region,” Case said. “My bill, PROSPER in the Pacific, would provide a visible alternative to the [People’s Republic of China] by emphasizing economic partnership over debt-trap diplomacy, all while encouraging private-sector-led development, market-based economies and mutual goodwill between our countries.”