[FourPenguins]

First of all, I'm glad to hear that the few foreign posters thus far were not very offended.
Second, I would like to say that as an American citizen, it is appalling to me that anyone, especially a representative of our government, would speak so rudely to the international community.
It's true that American industry is great, but it's also true that Canada has one of the world's largest petroleum production capacities, China has one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and the European Union is a shining example of international cooperation to form a true global economy.
By putting America out there as "the best," to a room dotted with foreign students, what message does he send? If I were in the position of those students, I would be insulted and threatened.
Rather than embracing the new world economy that is rapidly becoming a reality, the Secretary only perpetuates the nation vs. nation trade scheme of the past thousand years.