The Biden Administration has announced increased tariffs on electric vehicles and other products imported from China, a move prompted by the findings of the four-year statutory review of the Section 301 tariffs first imposed by the Trump Administration.

On May 23, WITA and the Asia Society Policy Institute hosted an event to look at the new 100% tariff on Chinese EVs, and what that may mean for the U.S. and global EV manufacturing and markets.

Featured Speakers:

John Bozzella, President and CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation

Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Washington, DC Office; former Acting Deputy United States Trade Representative

Michael Dunne, CEO, Dunne Insights LLC; author of the upcoming book: The Great Car Takeover: China’s Master Plan to Dominate Electric Car Markets Worldwide

Everett Eissenstat, Partner, Public Policy Practice Group, Squire Patton Boggs; former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, The White House

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)

Moderator: Jordan Schneider, Founder, ChinaTalk Podcast and Newsletter; Adjunct Fellow, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security

Speaker Biographies:

John Bozzella, a veteran auto industry executive, is President and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators). From 2014 until the establishment of Auto Innovators in January 2020, he served as President and CEO of the Association of Global Automakers, the trade association whose members included the U.S operations of international automobile and light-duty truck manufacturers that sold products in the United States.

Previously, John served as a Senior Operating Executive for Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC, where he worked with the firm and its portfolio companies on a range of public policy and economic development matters. He served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Public Policy at Chrysler Group in 2009, and Vice President of External Affairs and Public Policy for Chrysler LLC from 2007 to 2009. In this capacity, he mobilized government support to significantly restructure Chrysler.

At Chrysler, John worked closely with the federal government and other automakers on a substantially advanced technology vehicle loan program and on the development of new fuel economy standards. In addition, he worked with state governments to gain funding for restructuring, training, and development.

From 2005 to 2007, John spent two years with DaimlerChrysler Corporation as Vice President of External Affairs and Public Policy for the Americas. John was with Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2005 in positions in public policy, and government and community relations, and labor relations.

Prior to joining the automotive industry, John served as New York City’s director of state legislative affairs under Mayor David N. Dinkins. He began his career in public policy as the Director of Legislative and Political Action for the United Federation of Teachers. John is a graduate of Cornell University.

Wendy Cutler  is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world.

Michael Dunne is the CEO of Dunne Insights LLC. He is also an entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of the upcoming book: Humiliation No More: China’s Master Plan to Dominate Electric Car Markets Worldwide. In 2018, Dunne founded ZoZoGo to deliver world-class advisory services on global electric and autonomous vehicle markets. Company leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia engage Dunne for expert knowledge, keynote talks and board level briefings.

Everett Eissenstat is Partner of the Public Policy Practice Group at Squire Patton Boggs. He is one of the nation’s foremost global trade experts having served in senior positions in Congress, Office of the United States Trade Representative, The White House, and a Fortune 50 company. He helps clients manage and mitigate geopolitical risk, influence international economic policy-making, and develop and execute successful international trade and investment strategies. 

During a distinguished government career spanning over two decades, Everett served as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. Reporting to the President, the National Security Advisor, and the Director of the National Economic Council, he coordinated interagency policy development and implementation on international economic policy matters. Previously, he also held key roles in the US House, Senate, and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), including as the Chief International Trade Counsel to the Chairman of the US Senate Finance Committee (2011-2017), and as Assistant US Trade Representative for the Americas (2006-2011), Everett led negotiations of multiple comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements. 

Everett also served as Legislative Director for Rep. Jim Kolbe, where he advised the Congressman on international trade matters, appropriations, and foreign affairs. He was also Senior Vice President at a multinational automotive manufacturer (2018 – 2021) reporting to the CEO and managing over 100 public policy professionals worldwide. He helped navigate a range of challenges including labor relations, supply chain disruptions and the regulatory and compliance implications of transitioning from internal combustible engines to electric vehicles.

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama is the Director of European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and a leading author on trade diplomacy, EU-Far East relations and the digital economy.

He is regularly consulted by governments and international organisations on a range of issues, from trade negotiations to economic reforms. He appears regularly in European, Chinese and US media, and is noted for his involvement in WTO and major free trade agreements. He was also named “One of the 20 most influential people for open internet” by the readers of the Guardian UK in 2012. He was the first author to argue for a WTO case on internet censorship in China.

Prior to joining ECIPE, he was an independent counsel on regulatory affairs, competition and communication, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representative of Sweden and the EU member states towards the WTO and the UN, including WIPO and UNECE. Lee-Makiyama is also a Fellow at the department of International Relations at the London School of Economics, and currently shares his time between LSE and ECIPE.

Jordan Schneider is the Founder of ChinaTalk Podcast and Newsletter and an Adjunct Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Formerly, he was a China technology analyst at The Rhodium Group. He previously worked for Bridgewater and the Eurasia Group. Jordan received a master’s degree in economics from Peking University’s Yenching Academy and a BA in history from Yale. His research has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Wired, and Lawfare. He is proficient in Chinese.

Ken Levinson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and Washington International Trade Foundation.

WITA is the world’s largest non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA and its affiliated groups have over 10,000 members, and more than 160 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

Ken has over 30 years of experience working with companies, associations, NGOs and governments, advocating innovative solutions to complex public policy challenges. Over the years, Ken has worked with clients in the technology, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, financial services, retail, apparel, energy, and consumer products sectors.

Previously, Ken served as Senior Director for Global Government Affairs for AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Ken served as Senior Vice President and COO at the Washington, DC consulting firm of Fontheim International. Ken joined Fontheim after spending six years on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV. Ken advised the Senator on foreign policy and national security matters, and served as the Senator’s chief advisor on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, dealing with issues related to international trade and tax policy.

Ken received his Master’s Degree from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst. Ken also spent a year studying at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Ken and his wife, the Reverend Donna Marsh, live in Bethesda, MD, with their two daughters.

The post From 25 to 100: New Tariffs on Chinese EVs appeared first on WITA.

On May 14, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the long-awaited review of the Section 301 tariffs first imposed by the Trump Administration.

On May 17, WITA hosted a pop-up briefing to discuss the 301 review, and what it means for impacted sectors of the U.S. economy, and trade relations between the U.S. and China.

Featured Speakers:

Nova Daly, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Wiley Rein LLP

Albert Gore, Executive Director, Zero Emission Transportation Association

Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets, Progressive Policy Institute

Kyle Johnson, Director of Trade Policy, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)

Scott N. Paul, President, Alliance for American Manufacturing

Vanessa Sciarra, Vice President, Trade & International Competitiveness, American Clean Power Association

Maria Zieba, Vice President of Government Affairs, National Pork Producers Council

Moderator: Nicole Bivens Collinson, Managing Principal, Operating Committee, and International Trade and Government Relations Practice Leader, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.

Speaker Biographies:

Nova J. Daly is a Senior Public Policy Advisor at Wiley Rein LLP. Nova was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Investment Security and Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he directed and coordinated the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and created and led the U.S.-EU Investment Dialogue and the U.S.-China Investment Forum. He also developed the U.S. Treasury’s “Open Investment Initiative” to attract foreign investment and reduce foreign and domestic barriers to international investments. Before joining Treasury, Mr. Daly was Director for International Trade at the National Security Council, Senior Advisor for Trade Policy for Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, and an International Trade Advisor for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Drawing on his experience in the management, development, and implementation of the U.S. economic and national security policies and programs, he provides both high-level insight and deep operational experience to help clients navigate the policy and regulatory environment surrounding cross-border business activities, especially through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Nova received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Irvine, and a graduate degree in international law and organizations from American University.

Albert Gore is the Executive Director at Zero Emission Transportation Association

Albert is a veteran in the clean technology space, having spent seven years at Tesla, Inc., most recently as the Lead for Public Policy and Business Development in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Prior to its acquisition by Tesla, he was also the Deputy Director of Policy and Electricity Markets at SolarCity. Gore also served as Vice President of Business Development at Strategic Capital Partners, LLC, a commercial real estate investment and development firm. Gore lives with his wife and three children in Arlington, VA , and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelors in Government from Harvard University.

Ed Gresser is Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at PPI.

Ed returns to PPI after working for the think tank from 2001-2011. He most recently served as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). In this position, he led USTR’s economic research unit from 2015-2021, and chaired the 21-agency Trade Policy Staff Committee.

Ed began his career on Capitol Hill before serving USTR as Policy Advisor to USTR Charlene Barshefsky from 1998 to 2001. He then led PPI’s Trade and Global Markets Project from 2001 to 2011. After PPI, he co-founded and directed the independent think tank ProgressiveEconomy until rejoining USTR in 2015. In 2013, the Washington International Trade Association presented him with its Lighthouse Award, awarded annually to an individual or group for significant contributions to trade policy.

Ed is the author of Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Global Economy (2007). He has published in a variety of journals and newspapers, and his research has been cited by leading academics and international organizations including the WTO, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. He is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia Universities and a certificate from the Averell Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union.

Kyle Johnson serves as the Director of Trade Policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Prior to joining ITI, he served at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, where he led the Information Technologies Team. In that role, he supervised ICT hardware industry experts working to strengthen the global competitiveness of U.S. industry through industry analysis, trade policy development, addressing trade barriers, supporting semiconductor and ICT industry supply chain resilience, and assisting with trade promotion strategies.

Previously at Commerce, Kyle served in several staff roles focused on developing and implementing trade policy and promotion efforts to support trade and international competitiveness in innovative U.S. technologies. He contributed to Commerce’s work addressing technical barriers to trade, particularly relating to cybersecurity policies, ICT standards, and labeling. He coordinated an ICT-focused working group under the former U.S.-China JCCT, ensuring the group addressed China market access issues and created industry-government meetings to highlight emerging technology areas. He oversaw the formation of a working group to improve trade policy and promotion programs related to smart cities technology, and supported development of trade-related programming under the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership. He also co-led the development and implementation of APEC projects promoting risk-based cybersecurity policy development and regional harmonization on e-labeling policies and standards.

Before his roles at Commerce, Kyle worked as a Legislative Correspondent with Senator Byron Dorgan, served as an intern with the commercial section of U.S. Embassy Singapore, and taught English as a foreign language in South Korea. Kyle holds an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in International Economics and East Asia Studies, and a BA from the University of North Dakota in Political Science and Communications.

Scott N. Paul is President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established in 2007 by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union. Scott and AAM have worked to make American manufacturing and “Made in America” top-of-mind concerns for voters and our national leaders through effective advocacy, policy development, and data-driven research.

Scott is a sought-after expert on trade and manufacturing matters, testifying before numerous congressional committees and penning op-eds for The New York Times and other leading publications. He authored a chapter in the 2013 book ​ReMaking America and has written extensively about Alexander Hamilton’s role in forming U.S. national economic policy. Scott also hosts the The Manufacturing Report podcast.

Scott is the past board chair of the National Skills Coalition and sits on the Board of Visitors of the Political Science Department at the Pennsylvania State University. He also is on the Advisory Board of Indiana University’s Manufacturing Policy Initiative.

Scott earned a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from Penn State and an M.A. with honors in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Raised in the small town of Rensselaer, Indiana, he currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his family.

Vanessa Sciarra is the Vice President for Trade and International Competitiveness at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), a multi-technology renewable energy industry trade group. ACP represents solar, storage, wind, and transmission companies, along with manufacturers and construction companies, developers and owners/operators, utilities, financial firms, and corporate purchasers in the clean energy value chain. Vanessa has deep experience in the international trade world in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining ACP, she worked at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and at the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT) where her work involved advocating for trade and international investment issues for companies in many sectors of the economy. In addition to her trade association work, she has served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and as an Assistant General Counsel with the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). A District of Columbia Bar member, she also has had a significant career in private practice representing clients in international trade matters at two law firms. She has previously served as President of the DC Chapter of the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT), a group that works to promote the professional development of women in international trade and business and to raise public awareness of the importance of international trade.

Maria Zieba is the Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), overseeing the international affairs and domestic policy teams.

Prior to joining NPPC, Zieba was a Trade Policy Manager for the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where she worked on various non-technical trade issues affecting the dairy industry. Before that, she worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, managing capacity building projects aimed at increasing U.S. agricultural exports to emerging markets.

Zieba holds a M.A. in international commerce and policy from George Mason University. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Riverside with a double major in political science-international affairs and Spanish.

She is fluent in three languages and has lived in Washington, D.C., Southern California, Argentina and Brazil.

Nicole Bivens Collinson is a Managing Principal, Operating Committee, and International Trade and Government Relations Practice Leader with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. She is located in the Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Collinson is a commentator on trade matters on MSNBC, NPR, and BBC and is the lead professional on ST&R’s engagement as legislative counsel to the National Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA).

Prior to joining ST&R Ms. Collinson served as assistant chief negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, responsible for the negotiation of bilateral agreements with Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, the Sub-Continent, and Africa. She also served as a country specialist in the International Trade Administration at the Department of Commerce, where she was responsible for the preparation of negotiations on specific topics between the U.S. and Latin America, Eastern Europe, China, and Hong Kong as well as the administration of complex textile agreements.

Ms. Collinson holds a master’s degree in international relations from The George Washington University and a triple bachelor’s degree in political science, European studies, and French from Georgetown College. She also studied at the Université de Caen in France. She is past chair of the Women in International Trade Charitable Trust, past president of Women in International Trade, an advisory board member of America’s TradePolicy.com, treasurer and board member of the Washington International Trade Association, and a member of the Washington International Trade Association Foundation and Women in Government Relations. She serves on the board of trustees for Georgetown College and is the past executive director for the U.S. Hosiery Manufacturers Coalition, the U.S. Apparel Industry Coalition, and the U.S. Sock Distributors Coalition. She is conversant in both French and Spanish.

Ken Levinson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and Washington International Trade Foundation.

WITA is the world’s largest non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA and its affiliated groups have over 10,000 members, and more than 160 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

Ken has over 30 years of experience working with companies, associations, NGOs and governments, advocating innovative solutions to complex public policy challenges. Over the years, Ken has worked with clients in the technology, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, financial services, retail, apparel, energy, and consumer products sectors.

Previously, Ken served as Senior Director for Global Government Affairs for AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Ken served as Senior Vice President and COO at the Washington, DC consulting firm of Fontheim International. Ken joined Fontheim after spending six years on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV. Ken advised the Senator on foreign policy and national security matters, and served as the Senator’s chief advisor on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, dealing with issues related to international trade and tax policy.

Ken received his Master’s Degree from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst. Ken also spent a year studying at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Ken and his wife, the Reverend Donna Marsh, live in Bethesda, MD, with their two daughters.

The post WITA Pop-Up Briefing on the Section 301 Tariff Review appeared first on WITA.

The recordings of the Intensive Trade Seminar are available for purchase. Please email us at events@wita.org to purchase access.

All sessions are off-the-record/Chatham House Rules.

Curriculum and Speakers

All Times Below in US/Eastern

Day 1: How Did the U.S. – China Trade Relationship Get Here?

Thursday, May 9: 9:00 AM – 12:15 PM (US/Eastern Time)

Session 1: 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM ET

China and the Multilateral Trading System

Terry McCartin, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China, Mongolia and Taiwan Affairs; former Senior Counsel for WTO Subsidies Enforcement, General Counsel’s Office, U.S. Department of Commerce

Claire Reade, Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs

Stephen Vaughn, Partner, International Trade, King & Spalding; former General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Moderator: Bruce Hirsh, Principal, Tailwind Global Strategies LLC; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea, and APEC; former Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the WTO and Multilateral Affairs

Session 2: 9:45 AM – 10:30 AM ET

China’s Global Goals and Ambitions

Jacob Gunter, Lead Analyst, Economic Research Team, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS); former Senior Policy and Communications Manager, European Union Chamber of Commerce in China

Paul T. Haenle, Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific Policy & Strategic Competitiveness, JP Morgan Chase & Co.; formerly Maurice R. Greenberg Director’s Chair, Carnegie China, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Dave Rank, Senior Advisor, The Cohen Group; former Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China

Moderator: Anna Ashton, Founder, Ashton Analytics; former Director, China Corporate Affairs & US-China, Eurasia Group

Session 3: 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM ET

 National Security, Technology and Cybersecurity

Charles Durant, Director Field Intelligence Element, National Security Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; former Deputy Director for Counterintelligence, U.S. Department of Energy

Peter Harrell, Non-Resident Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; former Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness, National Security Council at the White House

Naomi Wilson, Senior Vice President for Asia & Global Trade, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI); former Acting Director for Asia-Pacific, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Moderator: Hon. Nazak Nikakhtar, Partner, National Security Chair, Wiley Rein LLC; former Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce

Session 4: 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM ET

U.S. Import Bans, Investment and Export Controls

Daniel Bahar, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors LLC; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Services and Investment

John Foote, Partner, Trade, Customs, Forced Labor, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Kevin Wolf, Partner, Akin; Senior Fellow, Center for Security and Emerging Technology; former Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Moderator: Neena Shenai, Partner in International Trade Investment and Market Access, WilmerHale; former Senior Adviser to the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration in the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce

Day 2: Where Does the U.S.- China Trade Relationship Go from Here?

Friday, May 10: 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM (US/Eastern Time)

Session 5: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM ET

U.S. Trade Policy and Tariffs

Ambassador Sarah Bianchi, Senior Managing Director & Chief Strategist, International Political Affairs and Public Policy, Evercore; former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Ed Brzytwa, Vice President of International Trade, Consumer Technology Association; former Director for International Trade, American Chemistry Council; former Director APEC Affairs and Director for Industrial Non-Tariff Barriers, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Amy P. Celico, Partner, Albright Stonebridge Group | Dentons Global Advisors; former Senior Director for China Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; former Deputy Director, Office of the Chinese Economic Area, U.S. Department of Commerce; former Head of Trade Facilitation Office, U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China

Jamieson Greer, Partner, International Trade, King & Spalding; former Chief of Staff, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Moderator: Timothy Keeler, Partner, Mayer Brown; former Chief of Staff, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Session 6: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM ET

U.S. Strategies to Compete with China

Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Abigail Hunter, Executive Director, Center for Critical Minerals Strategy, SAFE; former International & Strategy Advisor, National Governors Association

Vanessa Sciarra, Vice President, Trade & International Competitiveness, American Clean Power Association (ACP); former Vice President for Legal Affairs and Trade & Investment Policy, National Foreign Trade Council

Sujai Shivakumar, Senior Fellow and Director, Renewing American Innovation, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Moderator: Maureen Hinman, Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Silverado Policy Accelerator; former Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Session 7: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET

What Lies Ahead in U.S. -China Trade Relations

Ambassador Craig Allen, President, US-China Business Council; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for China, U.S. Department of Commerce

Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Partner, Armitage International, L.C.; former Senior Fellow for Asian Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

David Hanke, Staff Director, U.S. House Select Committee on China

Clete Willems, Partner, Akin; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics and Deputy NEC Director, The White House; former Chief Counsel for Negotiations, Legislation, and Administrative Law, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Moderator: Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Speaker Biographies

Terry McCartin serves as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China, Mongolia and Taiwan Affairs.  In that capacity, he is responsible for developing and implementing U.S. trade policy toward China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia and Taiwan.  

Mr. McCartin served as one of the lead U.S. negotiators for the Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China, signed in January 2020.  This agreement requires structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange, among other things.  Mr. McCartin has also chaired Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meetings with U.S. trade partners, including Taiwan and Mongolia.  Mr. McCartin currently serves as the chief U.S. negotiator for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade.  Through this initiative, which is being conducted under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, the two sides are seeking to conclude trade agreements covering the areas of customs and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, services domestic regulation, anticorruption, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, standards, digital trade, labor, environment, state-owned enterprises and non-market policies and practices.

Previously, Mr. McCartin served as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs (from 2006 to 2017) and the Senior Director for Monitoring and Enforcement for China (from 2001 to 2006).  In those capacities, Mr. McCartin chaired the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s Subcommittee on China, whose principal mission was to oversee and coordinate the U.S. government’s efforts to ensure that China fully implemented the commitments that it made upon acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.  Mr. McCartin was also responsible for the enforcement of China’s WTO obligations, including through the pursuit of meritorious WTO dispute settlement cases in areas such as discriminatory taxation policies, local content requirements, export restraints on raw materials, subsidies, intellectual property rights, theatrical films, financial information services, electronic payment services, trade remedies, and domestic support and tariff-rate quota administration for agricultural commodities.  He also served as the lead U.S. negotiator for the U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Films for Theatrical Release, signed in 2012, which significantly increased the number of movies that can be imported into China each year as well as the U.S. side’s share of box office revenues.  In addition, Mr. McCartin participated in numerous high-level U.S.-China trade dialogues (from 2004 through 2017).  He also served as the lead U.S. negotiator for the U.S.-Mongolia Transparency Agreement, signed in 2013, which represents the first stand-alone transparency agreement for the United States in the area of trade and investment.   

Prior to joining the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. McCartin worked in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  As the Senior Counsel for WTO Subsidies Enforcement, he participated in the WTO accession negotiations with China in the areas of subsidies, antidumping duties and safeguards.  He also represented the United States in trade disputes before the WTO in the areas of anti-dumping and countervailing duties and served as a U.S. delegate to multilateral working groups studying the interaction between trade and competition policy under the auspices of the WTO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the North American Free Trade Agreement.  In addition, he advised the Commerce Department regarding the conduct of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and represented the Commerce Department in litigation before U.S. courts.

Prior to joining the Commerce Department’s legal staff, Mr. McCartin practiced as an attorney with a Washington, D.C., law firm and served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Lewis Smith, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

Mr. McCartin attended Stanford University and Georgetown University Law School, from which he graduated cum laude.

Claire Reade is Senior Counsel at Arnold & Porter. She provides clients with strategic counsel and assistance with major regulatory and governmental issues in the U.S. and China, guides Chinese companies investing or operating in the U.S., and advises a broad range of clients on strategic and legal issues and policies related to other international matters, including trade negotiations, trade litigation, and dispute settlement under the World Trade Organization (WTO). She has more than three decades of experience handling international trade strategy, negotiations, and litigation.

She returned to the firm in 2015 after an eight-year tenure at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), where she served as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs (2010-2014) and Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement (2006-2010).

As Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs, Claire was responsible for managing U.S. trade negotiations with China, developing core strategies, coordinating U.S. interagency efforts, and leading successful efforts to eliminate key trade barriers. In her role as Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement, she was responsible for coordinating USTR efforts to ensure that China met its international trade obligations to the U.S., playing a leading role in nine WTO disputes, as well as the special safeguard action against Chinese tires.

Prior to joining USTR, Claire counseled U.S. and foreign companies, industries, and governments on international market access issues. She also litigated in diverse U.S. agency proceedings, court appeals, and in international dispute settlement fora, regularly representing clients on NAFTA and WTO-related goods and services matters. She has helped clients on a wide range of U.S. trade law investigations, from countervailing duty and antidumping cases, to Section 301 cases and Section 201 safeguard actions.

She has frequently served as an outside lecturer, including at the Foreign Service Institute, National War College, and Washington area universities, and she is a well-known speaker at international trade events.

Stephen P. Vaughn is a Partner in the International Trade Team of King & Spalding who works primarily on international trade litigation and policy matters. In April 2019, Stephen completed more than two years of service as the General Counsel for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).  In that position, he managed a team of government attorneys representing U.S. interests in both trade negotiations and trade litigation. During two months in early 2017, Stephen also served as the acting U.S. Trade Representative.  He is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on current U.S. trade policy, as well as one of the most talented U.S. trade remedy litigators.

Stephen draws on his experience in both government and the private sector to help clients navigate challenging U.S. trade policy issues. While at USTR, Stephen was directly involved in numerous significant issues, including the new U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), actions undertaken by the United States against China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and efforts to revise the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.  He also supervised U.S. litigation efforts before the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as litigation undertaken pursuant to other U.S. free trade agreements.  Stephen represented the Administration in numerous meetings regarding U.S. trade policy with Congressional officials and officials from other countries.

Before working at USTR, Stephen spent almost two decades in private practice representing clients in high-profile trade matters.  Much of his practice focused on injury issues in the context of antidumping and countervailing duty (AC/CVD) litigation. He has lengthy experience in complex trade litigation before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and North American Free Trade Agreement binational panels. 

During his time in private practice, Stephen represented clients in a number of trade policy matters, from enforcement of unfair trade laws to the role of trade issues in the context of climate change.

Stephen has also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he co-taught a seminar on U.S. trade policy and the WTO.

Bruce Hirsh, the Principal and Founder of Tailwind Global Strategies LLC, has nearly three decades of experience developing and implementing solutions to complex global problems both in the United States and internationally. With the benefit of 18 years in leadership positions in the Executive Branch and Congress, he understands how to work at the nexus of policy, process, and personalities to advance solutions and achieve results for businesses seeking to expand their footprint in key markets and achieve their policy priorities.

In a sensitive and unpredictable period for companies who trade internationally, Tailwind provides reliable interpretations of the latest developments and their consequences for clients’ bottom lines, and advises clients on how best to minimize risk and maximize business opportunities. In doing so, Tailwind draws on Mr. Hirsh’s deep knowledge of substantive trade and regulatory issues, as well as U.S. and international policy-making institutions. Over the course of his government career, Bruce developed U.S. government positions, initiatives and legislation on a variety of topics and built broad-based coalitions in the WTO, APEC and elsewhere to advance initiatives internationally.

Prior to establishing Tailwind, Bruce worked as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea, and APEC, where he negotiated Japan-related provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and represented the United States at Senior Official meetings under APEC and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. He also developed and successfully executed strategies for addressing market access and regulatory hurdles in collaboration with private sector stakeholders. As Deputy Assistant USTR for WTO and Multilateral Affairs, he was lead U.S. negotiator for WTO Trade Facilitation, helping to set up the successful conclusion of the first multilateral WTO agreement in two decades, the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

From 2011 to 2014, Bruce was Chief International Trade Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where he was Chairman Max Baucus’s principal advisor on international trade and economic matters and advised Members of the Committee and the Democratic Caucus on these issues. In that role, he negotiated the Baucus-Camp trade promotion authority legislation.

Bruce also served at USTR as Chief Counsel for Dispute Settlement and as Legal Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland. Before joining USTR in 1998, he practiced law in Washington, DC and Tokyo, Japan.

Jacob Gunter is a Lead Analyst Economy at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). He brings ten years of experience in China to the role, including the most recent four years as the Lead Pen of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, where he served as the Senior Policy and Communications Manager. He covers China’s political economy, industrial policy, innovation, self-reliance, decoupling, and examines how the EU can better economically compete with China in third markets.

Gunter has a dual Master’s degree in Sinology and International Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Nanjing University through the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in International Business from the University of Denver Daniel’s College of Business. He has studied and worked in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Yuyao, Zhejiang.

Paul T. Haenle is the Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific Policy and Strategic Competitiveness at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and he is a visiting senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore.

Paul Haenle held the Maurice R. Greenberg Director’s Chair at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. From June 2007 to January 2009, Haenle also played a key role as the White House representative to the U.S. negotiating team at the six-party-talks nuclear negotiations. From May 2004 to June 2007, he served as the executive assistant to the U.S. national security adviser.

Trained as a China foreign area officer in the U.S. Army, Haenle has been assigned twice to the U.S. embassy in Beijing, served as a U.S. Army company commander during a two-year tour to the Republic of Korea, and worked in the Pentagon as an adviser on China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Affairs on the staff of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Early assignments in the U.S. Army included postings in Germany, Desert Storm, Korea, and Kuwait. He retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in October 2009.

Dave Rank is Senior Advisor at The Cohen Group. He retired from the US Foreign Service in 2017 as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy to China. In this capacity, Mr. Rank ran the Embassy’s day-to-day operations, worked closely with his counterparts in Washington and Beijing, and served as the Chargé d’Affaires for the six months prior to Ambassador Terry Branstad’s arrival in Beijing.

Throughout his 27 year career in the US Foreign Service, Mr. Rank performed with excellence in various postings around the world. In addition to his final assignment in Beijing, Mr. Rank served in five other positions in the region: two prior posts at the US Embassy in Beijing, two at the America Institute in Taiwan, and one at the US Consulate General in Shanghai. He has also served at the US Embassies in Afghanistan, Greece, and Mauritius. Mr. Rank’s domestic assignments included Director of the State Department’s Office on Afghanistan Affairs, Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and the Desk Officer for the Republic of Korea.

From 2012 to 2013, Mr. Rank served as a Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. In 2015, Mr. Rank was awarded the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award for his role in the release of the only American service member held by the enemy in Afghanistan. He is also the recipient of the American Foreign Service Association’s Sinclaire Award for the study of languages and cultures.

In addition to his role at The Cohen Group, Mr. Rank is a Senior Fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Mr. Rank speaks Mandarin, French, Dari, and Greek. A native of Chicago, Mr. Rank attended the University of Illinois. He is married with three children.

Anna Ashton is the Founder of Ashton Analytics. Formerly, she was the director of China Corporate Affairs and US-China at Eurasia Group. She examined the business implications of policy developments in China and of US policy toward China. She has significant expertise in China-related trade and economic analysis and advocacy. Prior to joining Eurasia Group, Anna served as a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute and was vice president of government affairs for the US-China Business Council, representing the council in engagements with the policy community, the press, and the public. Anna began her career as an intelligence officer for the Department of Defense and later worked for her home state of Arkansas, recruiting Asian FDI.

Anna holds a doctor of law degree from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in East Asian languages and civilizations from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Studies from Wellesley College. She serves on the Congressional Circle for the US-Asia Institute and is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, the Trade Policy Forum, and Women in International Trade. In her free time, Anna enjoys hanging out with her kids and their pets, attempting creative projects, and going to a great yoga or spin class.

Charles Durant is Director, Field Intelligence Element, National Security Sciences Directorate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and former Deputy Director for Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy

Charles “Chuck” Durant began his professional career in national intelligence in 1980 when he joined the US Army as a German language signals intelligence voice interceptor and he served military tours at US Army Field Station Berlin in West Berlin; Fort Huachuca, AZ; Fort Meade, MD; and Fort Carson, CO.

After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Chuck transitioned to US Army Counterintelligence in 1993 and served tours at the BENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) Military Intelligence Detachment, the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, CO, and the US Army Foreign Counterintelligence Activity (USAFCA) at Fort Meade as well as a deployment to Hungary in support of the international peace keeping mission in the former Yugoslavia.

Chuck retired from the Army in 2000 and returned to USAFCA as a Counterintelligence Agent. After 9/11, he went to work for the National Security Agency until he returned to USAFCA as the Chief of Investigations. He then served as US Army representative to the DoD Counterintelligence Field Activity before assuming a position with the White House Military Office where he provided counterintelligence and security support to the President and White House staff on overseas visits.

In 2007, Chuck joined the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Intelligence and COunterintelligence. In 2009, he became the DOE Deputy Director of Counterintelligence until his retirement from federal service as a member of the Senior Executive Service.

After his retirement from federal service in April 2019, Chuck worked as the Berkshire Hathaway Energy Director of National Security and Resiliency Policy in Washington, DC.

In October of 2020, Chuck joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory as Field Intelligence Element Director and conducts frequent external engagement with sponsors across the US Intelligence Community. Chuck has 40 years of intelligence community experience and in 2019 was recognized for his service by the DOE Secretary of Energy with a Meritorious Service Award, the National Nuclear Security Administrator’s gold medallion, and a Lifetime Counterintelligence Achievement Award by the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

Peter E. Harrel is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He also serves as an attorney advising companies and investors on international legal, regulatory, and geopolitical risks. As a member of Carnegie’s American Statecraft program, Harrell’s research focuses on issues of U.S. domestic economic competitiveness, trade policy, and the use of economic tools in U.S. foreign policy.

From January 2021 through 2022, Harrell served at the U.S. White House as Senior Director for International Economics, jointly appointed to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In that role, Harrell co-led President Biden’s E.O. 14017 supply chain resilience agenda; worked on the global digital, 5G, and telecommunications strategies; spearheaded negotiations with the European Union on the U.S.-E.U. Data Privacy Framework; served as the White House representative to the CFIUS committee; and worked on U.S. sanctions and export controls towards Russia is response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Immediately prior to joining the White House, Harrell served on the Biden-Harris Transition team from September 2020 to January 2021.

From 2015 to early 2021 Harrell was an attorney in private practice and served as Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. In those roles he advised U.S. and multinational companies on sanctions compliance and a range of geopolitical risks, and also published widely on public policy. His articles and op-eds appeared in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, and Lawfare, among other outlets. Harrell has testified in front of multiple congressional committees, including, most recently, the House Financial Services Committee in February 2023.

From 2012 to 2014, Harrell served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. From 2009 to 2012 he served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, where he was instrumental in developing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s economic statecraft agenda.

Earlier in his career, Harrell served on President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, DC. 

Harrell is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a JD from the Yale Law School.

Naomi Wilson serves as Senior Vice President of Asia and Global Trade Policy. Prior to joining ITI, Naomi served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she most recently held the position of acting director for Asia-Pacific. In that capacity, she played a leading role on cybersecurity, law enforcement, and customs cooperation issues related to Asia and served as a senior advisor to Secretary Jeh Johnson. During her tenure at DHS, Naomi led development and implementation of priority policy initiatives for DHS engagement with China, including secretarial engagements and agreements. She worked closely with interagency colleagues to negotiate and implement agreements stemming from the September 2015 State visit between Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping, including managing the U.S.-China High-Level Dialogue on Cybercrime and Related Issues for DHS.

Prior to joining DHS, Naomi served as a staffer on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs and as a research assistant at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

Naomi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Master’s in International Affairs & National Security. In 2011, she completed intensive Chinese language training at Peking University. Naomi speaks advanced Mandarin and French and is a native of Connecticut.

The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar is Partner & Chair of National Security at Wiley Rein LLC. She brings over two decades of experience in international trade and national security to help clients succeed in the domestic and global marketplace. Through leadership roles in the U.S. government and private sector, Nazak has leveraged her valuable insights into the expansive range of U.S. and international laws, regulatory and policy processes, and federal agency resources to achieve clients’ business objectives. 

From 2018 to 2021, with unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Nazak served as the Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Industry & Analysis at the International Trade Administration (ITA). Nazak also fulfilled the duties of the Under Secretary for Industry and Security at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). In these roles, Nazak was the agency’s primary liaison with U.S. industry and trade associations, and she shaped major initiatives to strengthen U.S. industry competitiveness, promote innovation, and accelerate economic and job growth. As one of the key national security experts in the U.S. government, she developed and implemented innovative laws, regulations, and policies to safeguard strategically important technologies, strengthen the U.S. industrial base, and protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. As the Department’s lead on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), she played a key role in shaping U.S. investment policy. As the head of the agency’s trade policy office, she advised the U.S. government on legal and economic issues impacting critical technologies, advanced manufacturing, financial services, e-commerce, data privacy, cybersecurity, critical minerals/rare earths, and energy competition. Finally, as the federal agency’s lead on supply chain assessments, Nazak spearheaded the United States’ first-ever whole-of-government initiative to evaluate and strengthen supply chains across all strategic sectors of the economy.

Daniel Bahar is a Managing Director at Rock Creek Global Advisors, where he focuses on international trade and investment policy, including negotiations, market access, and regulatory matters.

From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Bahar served as Assistant US Trade Representative for Services and Investment, responsible for development and implementation of US services, investment, and digital trade policy.  He oversaw bilateral, plurilateral, and multilateral negotiations, including services, investment, and digital aspects of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the US-China Phase One Trade Agreement, the US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, and the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on E-Commerce.  He also represented USTR on the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

As Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative for Investment, beginning in 2012, Mr. Bahar led USTR’s overall investment policy portfolio, serving as USTR’s lead investment negotiator for trade and investment agreements, including U.S.-China investment treaty negotiations and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and representing the United States on investment matters in international fora, such as the G20.  He joined USTR as Director for Investment in 2006.

Before joining USTR, Mr. Bahar was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP, representing multinational companies, organizations, and governments on matters arising under the WTO, international trade and investment agreements, and US law.

Mr. Bahar and the USTR Digital Trade Team received the National Foreign Trade Council Foundation Trade Leadership for the Digital Age Award in 2018, recognizing the team’s role in advancing US digital trade leadership.  Mr. Bahar received the USTR William B. Kelly Special Honor Award in 2015, recognizing exemplary dedication and leadership in US trade policy.

Mr. Bahar received a J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude), an M.A. from the College of Europe, studying as a Fulbright Fellow, and a B.S. from Drexel University (summa cum laude).

John Foote is Partner, Trade, Customs, Forced Labor at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. John Foote brings an in-depth understanding of international trade law, U.S. trade policy, and global supply chains to his practice advising companies with trade compliance and enforcement challenges—especially related to forced labor trade laws.

Whether helping clients navigate trade enforcement actions, conducting sophisticated supply chain due diligence, or helping clients resolve disputes with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, John delivers sound counsel characterized by a dual orientation toward policy and compliance.

John is a respected authority on the use of trade laws to target forced labor in global supply chains. He is passionate about protecting both his clients and vulnerable populations from the deleterious impact of forced labor in global supply chains.

As restrictions on access to the U.S. market continue to grow, John gives companies practical advice on how to navigate all manner of trade enforcement actions and helps design compliance solutions to minimize the impact of the same.

Leader of Kelley Drye’s customs practice, John helps companies leverage the building blocks of trade (classification, valuation, country of origin, preferential trade agreements, drawback, tariff exclusions, and waivers) to reduce the unnecessary costs of doing business and avoid business disruptions. He advises companies on strategies to mitigate the impact of high tariffs and advocates for the fair and transparent enforcement of U.S. trade laws.

John represents clients in enforcement proceedings before CBP, including Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) detentions, detentions under Withhold Release Orders (WROs) pursuant to the forced labor import ban (Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930), Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) proceedings, customs penalty actions, liquidated damages assessments, seizures, forfeitures, and customs audits.

John also represents clients in customs and trade disputes before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

A prolific writer and frequent speaker on trade and supply chain issues, John is recognized for his in depth knowledge on the use of trade tools to address unfair or unjust labor conditions in global supply chains. These include forced labor trade laws, the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism under the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, and labor provisions under other free trade agreements.

Early in his career, John was a law clerk for the Hon. Gregory W. Carman at the U.S. Court of International Trade.

John complements his efforts addressing labor abuses in supply chains with a strong commitment to pro bono legal work, including assisting Uyghurs and others with asylum claims.

Kevin Wolf is a Partner at Akin LLP. He has more than 25 years’ experience providing advice and counseling regarding the laws, regulations, policies and politics pertaining to export controls, sanctions, national security reviews of foreign direct investments and other international trade issues. His practice focuses on Export Administration Regulations (EAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Mr. Wolf previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration (2010- 2017) with the Bureau of Industry and Security, where he developed and implemented policies pertaining to export administration issues, particularly the licensing requirements of EAR.

Neena Shenai is a Partner in International Trade Investment and Market Access at WilmerHale. She is a seasoned legal professional with over 20 years of legal, compliance and policy experience in global cross-border activities in the private sector and in government. Ms. Shenai focuses her practice on sanctions and export controls, import/customs, CFIUS, M&A due diligence and trade policy.

From 2015-2023, Ms. Shenai held several senior roles for Medtronic, the world’s largest medical technology company. While at Medtronic, she served as chief legal counsel and head of compliance for global trade matters impacting the company’s operations in over 150 countries, including sanctions and export controls, import and strategic supply chain issues, risk management and mitigation, corporate due diligence and trade policy.

Ms. Shenai served as a trade counsel for the House Committee on Ways and Means during the chairmanships of then-Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Paul Ryan (R-WI). She has also worked as a trade policy counsel for the Senate Republican Policy Committee and as the senior adviser to the assistant secretary for export administration in the Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce.

Ms. Shenai previously was in private practice as an associate in the Washington, DC office of another international law firm and a professional trainee in the Rules Division of the World Trade Organization. She clerked for the Hon. Evan J. Wallach on the US Court of International Trade.

Ms. Shenai has been a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) since 2017, where her research focuses on global trade, international economics and globalization. The author of several papers and articles on international economic issues, she has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the BBC, Financial Times, RealClearPolicy, Market Watch, Voice of America, and Aspen Ideas and has served on task forces and projects at both the Council on Foreign Relations and AEI. Ms. Shenai is also a board member of the Washington International Trade Association.

Ambassador Sarah Bianchi is Senior Managing Director & Chief Strategist of International Political Affairs and Public Policy at Evercore ISI.

Ambassador Bianchi has nearly 30 years’ experience in both the public and private sector. Most recently, she served as deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 2021 to 2024, overseeing critical trading relationships across Asia and Africa. Her portfolio covered all aspects of trade, including sustainable supply chains, onshoring-shoring, energy transition, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPs and Science Act, tariffs, technology, global trade agreements, labor and the environment.

In addition to public service, Ambassador Bianchi has served in several private sector roles. Prior to becoming deputy USTR, she led the U.S. public policy research team at Evercore ISI from 2019 to 2021, where she was ranked No. 3 by Institutional Investor. She also served as head of global policy development at Airbnb, managing director at BlackRock, and investment analyst at Eton Park Capital Management.

Ambassador Bianchi graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and served on the Senior Advisory Committee at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University from 2004 to 2021. She also served as the chair of the Biden Institute’s Policy Board, and is a Distinguished Visiting Follow at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Ed Brzytwa is the Consumer Technology Association’s Vice President of International Trade. He leads CTA’s trade and supply chain policy and advocacy work, with a strong focus on improving the international trade environment and global supply chains to strengthen the competitiveness of the U.S. consumer technology industry.

Ed previously served as an international trade advocate for the American Chemistry Council and Information Technology Industry Council and a trade negotiator in Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Department of Commerce. Ed obtained two Master’s degrees from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in Austria, where he was a Fulbright fellow, and from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and has a Bachelor’s degree in The Classics from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. 

Amy P. Celico is a Partner at Albright Stonebridge Group, part of Dentons Global Advisors. Ms. Celico co-leads the firm’s China practice, overseeing a team of 13 professionals in Washington, D.C. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, Ms. Celico assists corporate and non-profit clients develop and expand business opportunities in China and navigate regulatory and policy changes in the China market.   

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Celico served as Senior Director for China Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where she was responsible for developing negotiating positions on issues related to China’s non-financial services sectors and intellectual property rights policies. She was also involved in developing trade policy positions for bilateral discussions with China through the Strategic Economic Dialogue and the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. Previously, Ms. Celico served as Deputy Director of the Office of the Chinese Economic Area at the U.S. Department of Commerce and head of Trade Facilitation Office at U.S. Embassy Beijing, where she monitored China’s compliance with its WTO commitments and developed U.S.-China trade policy to expand market access for U.S. companies in China. She also worked at the U.S. State Department, where she served as an intelligence analyst in the Bureau of Research and Intelligence, and as a Vice Consul for economic affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. Prior to her government service, Ms. Celico was the Director of Development for the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. She also worked at the International Monetary Fund as the bilingual assistant to the Executive Director for China. 

Ms. Celico serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and is a Senior Associate (Non-resident) to the Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She has been interviewed on U.S.-China trade issues by news outlets including Bloomberg, CNBC, The Financial Times, National Public Radio, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and speaks regularly about these issues at conferences and other forums.   

Ms. Celico earned her M.A. in International Economics and Strategic Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. with honors in Asian Studies from Mount Holyoke College. She is also a graduate of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in China. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and spent seven years living and working in China. 

She is based in Washington, D.C. 

Jamieson Greer is a partner in the International Trade team at King & Spalding. His practice covers trade remedies, trade policy and negotiations, trade agreement enforcement, export and import compliance, and CFIUS matters. He has represented clients in trade remedy litigation before the Department of Commerce, the International Trade Commission and federal courts. He has also assisted clients with advocacy before senior government officials and agencies with jurisdiction over international trade matters.  His clients include manufacturing, technology, energy, pharmaceutical, agriculture, financial and investment services, hospitality, and aerospace and defense companies.

Jamieson has experience developing international trade compliance programs and training client employees, conducting trade-related internal investigations, and advising on international trade aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining King & Spalding, Jamieson was the Chief of Staff to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. He worked very closely with Ambassador Lighthizer and senior White House officials on developing and implementing trade policy and advised the USTR on all aspects of the agency’s mission. Jamieson was also deeply involved in the Administration’s negotiations on the Phase One trade deal with China and participated in numerous strategy sessions with Ambassador Lighthizer, the President and other cabinet members as part of that process. He was a critical part of USTR’s efforts to negotiate and obtain Congressional approval of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Jamieson participated in every major Administration trade action initiated during his three years at USTR.

Before working at USTR, Jamieson spent several years in private practice focusing on trade-related matters, from compliance with U.S. export controls to transactions subject to CFIUS’s approval, trade remedies and antidumping laws.

Jamieson also served in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including a deployment to Iraq. He served as both prosecutor and defense counsel in criminal investigations and courts-martial involving U.S. airmen.  

Jamieson appears regularly in print and news media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and the BBC.

Timothy Keeler is a Partner and Co-Lead of Mayer Brown’s International Trade Product Team, as well as heading the firm’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) practice. He is also a member of the firm’s Public Policy, Regulatory & Government Affairs group.

Tim advises and advocates for clients on high-profile International Trade law and policy, including investigations and tariff actions by the USTR under Sec. 301 of the Trade Act of 1974; safeguard investigations and tariff remedies by the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the USTR under Sec. 201 of the Trade Act of 1974; the consistency of various legal regimes – or proposed laws – with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and other international legal obligations; international trade negotiations in the WTO, Free Trade Agreements, and other arrangements; and WTO and other trade agreement litigation.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Tim served in a variety of senior positions in the US Government for almost 12 years. He was the Chief of Staff in the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) from 2006 – 2009, where he oversaw implementation of US policy, strategy and negotiations involving all aspects of international trade and investment matters.

Before working for USTR, Tim spent more than five years at the Treasury Department from 2001 – 2006. He joined the Office of Legislative Affairs in 2001 as a Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for International Issues, where he was responsible for Treasury’s legislative strategy on issues including CFIUS, foreign exchange rate policy testimony, appropriations for US funding of the World Bank, and US participation in the International Monetary Fund. He later managed the Office of Legislative Affairs from 2002 – 2006 and assisted on all policy and personnel issues in the Office.

Tim also served on the Presidential Transition Team in 2000–2001 as a policy coordinator on export control and trade remedy policy, handling the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Export Administration (now called the Bureau of Industry and Security) and the International Trade Commission (ITC). Earlier in his career (1998-2000), Tim served as a professional staff member for international trade on the US Senate Finance Committee under Chairman William V. Roth (R-DE).

Tim is a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington International Trade Association. He was also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in both the School of Law (2010 – 2017)—co-teaching a course on US and WTO law, policy, and politics, and the School of Foreign Service (2018). 

Rob Atkinson is the President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and former Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute. As founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), recognized as the world’s top think tank for science and technology policy, Robert D. Atkinson leads a prolific team of policy analysts and fellows that is successfully shaping the debate and setting the agenda on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy.

He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation,” Washingtonian Magazine has called a “tech titan,” Government Technology Magazine has judged to be one of the 25 top “doers, dreamers and drivers of information technology,” and the Wharton Business School has given the “Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award.”

A sought-after speaker and valued adviser to policymakers around the world, Atkinson’s books include Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, AI and Today’s Innovation Economy (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2024), Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Mythology of Small Business (MIT Press, 2018); Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012), Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), and The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). He also has conducted groundbreaking research projects and authored hundreds of articles and reports on technology and innovation-related topics ranging from tax policy to advanced manufacturing, productivity, and global competitiveness. He has testified before the United States Congress more than 30 times.

President Clinton appointed Atkinson to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy; the Bush administration appointed him chair of the congressionally created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission; the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board; as co-chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s China-U.S. Innovation Policy Experts Group; to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and the Trump administration appointed him to the G7 Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. The Biden administration appointed him as a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information, and a member of the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ Council on China Competition.

Atkinson also served on the UK government’s Place Advisory Group to advise the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation on how policy can drive innovation in more regions. He is a member of the Polaris Council, a body of cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary science and technology policy experts who advise the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) team on emergent and emerging issues.

Atkinson is a member of the Special Competitive Studies Project. He served on the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age and serves on the boards or advisory councils of the University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Innovation, and the State Science and Technology Institute. Additionally, Atkinson is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Electronic Government and the Journal of Internet Policy; a member of the Global Innovation Forum Brain Trust; a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; a fellow at the Columbia University Institute of Tele-Information; a fellow of Glocom, a Tokyo-based research institute. He is also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.ice.

Atkinson was previously vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute, where he directed the Technology & New Economy Project. He wrote numerous research reports on technology and innovation policy, covering issues such as broadband telecommunications, e-commerce, e-government, privacy, copyright, R&D tax policy, offshoring, and innovation economics.

Previously, Atkinson served as the first executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC), a public-private partnership whose members included the state’s governor, legislative leaders, and both corporate and labor leaders. As head of RIEPC, Atkinson was responsible for drafting a comprehensive economic development strategy for the state and working with the legislature and executive branch of government to successfully implement each element of a 10-point action agenda.

Prior to his service in Rhode Island, Atkinson was a project director at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where, among other projects, he spearheaded The Technological Reshaping of Metropolitan America, a seminal report examining the impact of the information technology revolution on America’s urban areas.

As a respected policy expert and commentator, Atkinson has testified numerous times before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and he appears frequently on news and public affairs programs. Among others, these appearances have included interviews on BBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC Nightly News.

Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was awarded the prestigious Joseph E. Pogue Fellowship. He earned his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2014.

Abigail Hunter is the Executive Director of SAFE’s Ambassador Alfred Hoffman Jr. Center for Critical Minerals Strategy (Minerals Center). Previously, Abigail served as Director of International Affairs and Partnerships within the Minerals Center. In this role, she nurtured existing and new SAFE partnerships to advance sustainable and ethical supply chains amongst allies and like-minded countries.

Before joining SAFE full time, Hunter headed federal government affairs for Quebec for nearly three years as the senior attachée in Washington, D.C. Her mandate focused on the energy, environment, and trade relationship between the province and United States. Hunter started her career at the National Governors Association, where she led the association’s international work.

Hunter completed her Masters in Sustainable Energy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Her four-part capstone on aluminum’s clean energy paradox was published by the SAFE Center for Strategic Industrial Metals. She received her Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University with a double major in International Management and Managing for Sustainability.

Born in Toronto and growing up in New Jersey, Hunter is a proud dual citizen and conflicted hockey fan.

Vanessa Sciarra is Vice President for Trade and International Competitiveness at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), where she leads work on all aspects of trade policy as it affects the renewable energy industry. Prior to joining ACP, she worked at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and at the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), where her work involved advocating for trade and international investment issues for companies in many sectors of the economy. In addition to her trade association work, she has served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and as an Assistant General Counsel with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). A member of the District of Columbia Bar, she also has had a significant career in private practice representing clients in international trade matters at two law firms. She formerly served as President of the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT), based in Washington, DC, which works to promote the professional development of women in international trade and business and to raise public awareness of the importance of international trade. She holds her B.A. and J.D. from Yale and her M.Sc. from the London School of Economics.

Sujai Shivakumar directs the Renewing American Innovation (RAI) Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he also serves as a Senior Fellow. Dr. Shivakumar brings over two decades of experience in policy studies related to U.S. competitiveness and innovation. Previously, he directed the Innovation Policy Forum at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and led major studies of U.S. policies supporting advanced manufacturing, small business growth, workforce development, and entrepreneurship. He was also a lead contributor to a seminal National Academies study of strategies adopted by U.S. states and regions to foster entrepreneurship, drive technology transfer, and encourage regional high-tech ecosystems. He also helped prepare National Academy of Public Administration studies on laboratory technology transfer and the management of space situational awareness.

Reflecting his expertise in innovation policy, Dr. Shivakumar has testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and has been quoted in leading publications such as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. His academic background includes a doctorate in economics from George Mason University and service as an Earhart Foundation scholar at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University Bloomington, where he authored The Constitution of Development (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) and coauthored with Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom The Samaritan’s Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid (Oxford University Press, 2005). During his tenure at the National Academies, he contributed to over 50 assessments of U.S. and foreign innovation programs.

Maureen Hinman is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator. Ms. Hinman, a leading policy expert on the intersection of energy, environment, and the economy, most recently served as Director for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. At USTR she led a range of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade policy initiatives focused on the environmental goods and services sector as well as natural resource conservation. Ms. Hinman previously served as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s senior industry trade specialist responsible for international policy development and interagency advocacy for the U.S. environmental technology industry. Prior to entering federal service Hinman consulted on regional integration and trade policy implementation at Nathan Associates, a Washington-based economic policy consultancy. Ms. Hinman serves as a policy advisor for the Center for Climate and Trade. She was named to Washingtonian Magazine’s 2022 and 2023 “Tech Titan” list

Ambassador Craig Allen is the President of the US-China Business Council and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for China at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

On July 26, 2018, Craig Allen began his tenure in Washington, DC as the president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing over 270 American companies doing business with China. Prior to joining USCBC, Craig had a long, distinguished career in US public service.

Craig began his government career in 1985 at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA). He entered government as a Presidential Management Intern, rotating through the four branches of ITA. From 1986 to 1988, he was an international economist in ITA’s China Office.

In 1988, Craig transferred to the American Institute in Taiwan, where he served as Director of the American Trade Center in Taipei. He held this position until 1992, when he returned to the Department of Commerce for a three-year posting at the US Embassy in Beijing as Commercial Attaché.

In 1995, Craig was assigned to the US Embassy in Tokyo, where he served as a Commercial Attaché. In 1998, he was promoted to Deputy Senior Commercial Officer. In 1999, Craig became a member of the Senior Foreign Service.

From 2000, Craig served a two-year tour at the National Center for APEC in Seattle. While there, he worked on the APEC Summits in Brunei, China, and Mexico. In 2002, it was back to Beijing, where Craig served as the Senior Commercial Officer. In Beijing, Craig was promoted to the Minister Counselor rank of the Senior Foreign Service.

After a four-year tour in South Africa, Craig became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. He later became Deputy Assistant Secretary for China. Craig was sworn in as the United States ambassador to Brunei Darussalam on December 19, 2014. He served there until July 2018, when he transitioned to President of the US-China Business Council.

Craig received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Political Science and Asian Studies in 1979. He received a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1985.

Zack Cooper is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and US-China competition. He also teaches at Princeton University and serves as chair of the board of the Open Technology Fund. He is currently writing a book for Yale University Press that explains how militaries change during power shifts.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Cooper was the senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He previously worked as codirector of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He also served as assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council and as a special assistant to the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.

Dr. Cooper has published research reports on a number of aspects of US strategy and alliances in Asia. He has also co-authored several books and written articles for academic journals and popular press, including International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets. Dr. Cooper graduated from Princeton University with a PhD and an MA in security studies and an MPA in international relations. He received a BA in public policy from Stanford University.

Dave Hanke serves as Staff Director of the U.S. House Select Committee on China, leading the work of the Committee’s 28-person majority staff in support of Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8).

Previously, Dave was a Partner at the law firm of ArentFox Schiff LLP, where he represented clients on matters involving foreign investment screening (CFIUS), strategic technology policy, supply chains, U.S.-China competition, and government relations.  Prior to that, he spent over 12 years on Capitol Hill, serving in a variety of senior national security staff positions, including as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and as Counsel for National Security Affairs to Senator John Cornyn (R-TX, then-Senate Majority Whip).  Dave was the staff architect of Senator Cornyn’s Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), as well as the original staff architect of “secure 5G” legislation that was later enacted as the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019.  In addition, he previously served on the staff of the House International Relations Committee (Middle East Subcommittee), the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Committee on House Administration.

From 2004-2007, Dave served on active duty in the U.S. Army as a JAG officer, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for 11 months in 2005-2006, during which he served as the Brigade Judge Advocate for the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  Dave received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University (Bloomington), as well as a J.D. from Indiana University (Indianapolis).

Clete Willems is Partner at Akin Gump. He advises clients, including investors, trade associations and multinational companies, on international economic law and policy matters. With over 16 years of U.S. government experience, he offers clients strategic guidance and legal representation on trade, investment, finance, economic development, sanctions and energy, among other issues.

Before joining Akin Gump, Clete served in the White House as the Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. This position was also part of the National Security Council. In this role, he was the lead U.S. negotiator at multilateral summits, serving as the President’s Sherpa at the G- 7 and G-20 Summits and the lead negotiator at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum. He was also deeply involved with negotiations with major U.S. trading partners, such as China, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Canada and Mexico. Clete also helped the administration achieve key legislative victories, including the passage of development finance reform legislation and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reform legislation.

Prior to joining the White House, Clete worked at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for eight years. Among other positions, Clete served as chief counsel for negotiations, legislation and administrative law, and legal advisor to the U.S. Mission to the WTO. He was heavily involved in both trade policy issues and WTO litigation.

Prior to joining USTR, Clete worked as counsel on the House Budget Committee and in multiple positions, including legislative director, for then-Representative Paul Ryan (R- WI). In this role, he was successful in helping pass multiple pieces of trade and energy- related legislation into law.

In addition to being part of the firm’s public law and policy practice, Clete works closely with the international trade team on issues related to the WTO, CFIUS and sanctions. He has participated in over 30 WTO proceedings.

Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world. 

Ken Levinson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and Washington International Trade Foundation.

WITA is the world’s largest non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA and its affiliated groups have over 10,000 members, and more than 160 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

Ken has over 30 years of experience working with companies, associations, NGOs and governments, advocating innovative solutions to complex public policy challenges. Over the years, Ken has worked with clients in the technology, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, financial services, retail, apparel, energy, and consumer products sectors.

Previously, Ken served as Senior Director for Global Government Affairs for AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Ken served as Senior Vice President and COO at the Washington, DC consulting firm of Fontheim International. Ken joined Fontheim after spending six years on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV. Ken advised the Senator on foreign policy and national security matters, and served as the Senator’s chief advisor on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, dealing with issues related to international trade and tax policy.

Ken received his Master’s Degree from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst. Ken also spent a year studying at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Ken and his wife, the Reverend Donna Marsh, live in Bethesda, MD, with their two daughters.

Thank you to our WITA Academy Sponsors

Law Partner Sponsor

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The Office of the United States Trade Representative has initiated “an investigation of acts, policies, and practices of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) targeting the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance.” This is one of seven strategic sectors first identified by Beijing as a priority in 2006, and again in their Made in China 2025 plan.

On April 24, WITA and the Asia Society Policy Institute hosted an event to look at the trade case against  Chinese shipbuilding and logistics industries, past efforts to incentivize American shipbuilding, and what role trade remedies can play to help revitalize this U.S. industry.

Featured Speakers:

Elizabeth Drake, International Trade Attorney and Partner, Schagrin Associates; currently serving as counsel to United Steelworkers and other interested parties in the recently filed Section 301 petition 

Colin Grabow, Research Fellow, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute; author of Sorry Unions, China Isn’t Responsible for US Shipbuilding Woes | Cato at Liberty Blog

Captain Jonathan Kaskin, U.S. Navy (Ret.); Chair, Merchant Marine Affairs Committee, Navy League of the U.S.; Senior Fellow, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA); Marine Board Member, National Academy of Sciences

Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt, U.S. Navy (Ret.); Senior Fellow in Strategic Studies, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA); former Director & Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, Office of Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense; author of China as a Twenty-First Century Naval Power

David Ross, Partner & Chair, International Trade, Investment and Market Access Practice Group, WilmerHale; former International Trade Counsel, United States Senate Committee on Finance

Moderator: Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Washington, DC Office; former Acting Deputy United States Trade Representative

Speaker Biographies:

Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world.

Elizabeth J. Drake is an International Trade Attorney and Partner at Schagrin Associates. has over thirteen years of experience as an international trade attorney, and she worked on international trade policy for six years prior to entering practice.

Ms. Drake has represented clients in a broad array of international trade law matters, including antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, section 301 petitions, trade preferences, and international and bilateral trade agreements. She has also advised clients on trade policy and legislative matters, as well as on dispute settlement proceedings before the World Trade Organization.

Ms. Drake has testified before Congress, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission. She has also spoken and published on a wide variety of issues in international trade, including China’s industrial policies, WTO rules and disputes, and Buy America laws. In 2015, Ms. Drake was nominated to be a judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade. Her nomination was returned without a Senate vote.

Prior to joining Schagrin Associates in 2017, Ms. Drake was a partner at a boutique law firm focused on trade remedies. Before entering practice, she was an international policy analyst at the AFL-CIO. She has been recognized by Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and as a Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Colin Grabow is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies where his research focuses on domestic forms of trade protectionism such as the Jones Act and the U.S. sugar program.

His writings have been published in a number of outlets, including USA Today, The Hill, National Review, and the Wall Street Journal.

Prior to joining the Cato Institute, he performed political and economic analysis for a Japan‐​based trading and investment firm and published research and analysis for an international affairs consulting firm with a focus on U.S.-Asia relations.

Grabow holds a BA in international affairs from James Madison University and an MA in international trade and investment policy from George Washington University.

Captain Jonathan Kaskin is Chair of the Merchant Marine Affairs Committee at Navy League of the U.S, Senior Fellow at the Center for Naval Analyses, and Marine Board Member at the National Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Senior Executive Service for over 25 years and retired with 37 years of government service as the Director, Strategic Mobility and Combat Logistics Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (N-42), in June 2012. He was rehired as a Senior Advisor,  Maritime, to support the Navy Secretariat’s investigation of the business case for Dual Use Vessels on America’s Marine Highway which he completed in June 2014. He is now a part-time Senior Fellow at the Center for Naval Analyses.

Following four years on active duty with the Navy and four years of graduate education, Mr. Kaskin began his civil service career as an Operations Research Analyst at the Military Sealift Command Headquarters in the Office of the Assistant for Special Programs in September 1979. From July 1982 to March 1987 he served as the Executive Assistant to the Vice Commander, Military Sealift Command. From May 1987 to June 2012 he served as the OPNAV Program sponsor for strategic sealift and combat logistics ships (OPNAV N42).

Mr. Kaskin has a BSEE from the University of Pennsylvania (1971), a Master of Science degree in Engineering from Harvard University (1977) and second Master of Science degree in Shipping and Shipbuilding Management as well as a professional degree of Ocean Engineer from MIT (1979).

Mr. Kaskin is a Member of the National Defense Transportation Association, Propeller Club of the United States, Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Life Member of American Society of Naval Engineers (Gold Medal Recipient), Association of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval Institute, Military Officers Association, and the Navy League at which he currently serves as Chair of its Merchant Marine Affairs Committee, completing a six year term as National Vice President for Legislative Affairs. He also serves on the National Academies Marine Board. He was awarded the SES Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive in 1999 and 2009 and the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal in 2012.

Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt, US Navy (Ret.) is a Senior Fellow with CNA Strategic Studies.

Over his 15 years at CNA, as both a vice president and now as a fellow, he has had a number of papers dealing with security issues in Asia published. His most recent research focus has been the maritime security issues along the Indo-Pacific littoral and the maritime dimension of
China’s national strategy.

During his navy career, McDevitt spent his operational time in the Pacific, including a two year
assignment in Sasebo, Japan. He held four at-sea commands, including an aircraft carrier battlegroup. He was the Director of the East Asia Policy office for the Secretary of Defense during the George H.W. Bush Administration. He also served for two years as the Director for Strategy, War Plans and Policy (J-5) for US CINCPAC. McDevitt concluded his 34 year active duty career as the Commandant of the National War College in Washington, DC.

He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and has a Master’s Degree in U.S.
Diplomatic History in East Asia for Georgetown University. McDevitt spent a year in residence
at the U.S. Naval War College as a member of the CNO’s Strategic Studies Group. He is also a
graduate of the National War College.

David Ross chairs WilmerHale’s International Trade, Investment and Market Access Practice. Drawing on his experience at the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and on Capitol Hill, Mr. Ross advises companies on the use of domestic and international trade rules to eliminate regulatory barriers and other impediments to their businesses and investments around the world, with a particular focus on the technology, services/financial services, and aviation/aerospace sectors. Mr. Ross also spends significant time on trade policy and legislative matters, including proceedings under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, US legislation, the negotiation and enforcement of international agreements, and World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international trade law. Mr. Ross joined WilmerHale after spending four years as international trade counsel to the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee, and eight years as associate general counsel at USTR.

During his time at USTR, Mr. Ross was responsible for legal matters involving services and financial services, subsidies, antidumping measures, and safeguards. Mr. Ross served as lead counsel for the United States in numerous dispute settlement proceedings before the WTO, including the successful US challenges to EU subsidies for large civil aircraft and Mexican antidumping duties on imports of US rice. Mr. Ross also served as the chief US lawyer in the negotiation of the free trade agreement with Chile and as the services and financial services lawyer in free trade agreement negotiations with Australia, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman.

While serving with the finance committee, Mr. Ross advised member, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Republican staff on trade and economic issues including services, intellectual property, investment, currency/exchange rates, climate, labor, trade adjustment assistance and WTO dispute settlement. Mr. Ross provided policy guidance on trade and economic matters involving trade with China, Europe and the Russian Federation, and he negotiated and drafted trade legislation on issues falling within the finance committee’s jurisdiction. Through these experiences, Mr. Ross gained deep experience in the formulation and execution of Congressional trade policy, legislative drafting, Executive Branch oversight, and the use of legislative tools to help address and resolve impediments to trade.

From 1993–1997, Mr. Ross was an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration, US Department of Commerce. Mr. Ross provided legal advice to the Import Administration (IA) on its regulatory responsibilities under the US trade remedy laws and defended IA determinations before US courts and NAFTA panels. He also was extensively involved in the negotiation and administration of the antidumping suspension agreements on uranium and honey.

Mr. Ross is a member of the Georgetown University Law Center, International Trade Update CLE Advisory Board. He is also a member of the US Court of International Trade and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Ken Levinson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and Washington International Trade Foundation.

WITA is the world’s largest non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA and its affiliated groups have over 10,000 members, and more than 160 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

Ken has over 30 years of experience working with companies, associations, NGOs and governments, advocating innovative solutions to complex public policy challenges. Over the years, Ken has worked with clients in the technology, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, financial services, retail, apparel, energy, and consumer products sectors.

Previously, Ken served as Senior Director for Global Government Affairs for AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Ken served as Senior Vice President and COO at the Washington, DC consulting firm of Fontheim International. Ken joined Fontheim after spending six years on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV. Ken advised the Senator on foreign policy and national security matters, and served as the Senator’s chief advisor on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, dealing with issues related to international trade and tax policy.

Ken received his Master’s Degree from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst. Ken also spent a year studying at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Ken and his wife, the Reverend Donna Marsh, live in Bethesda, MD, with their two daughters.

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On Wednesday, March 13, WITA and the Asia Society Policy Institute hosted a Zoom webinar that looked at trends and policy implications for investment into the Mexican automotive sector by Chinese and other foreign firms. These investments are, in part, a response to U.S. trade policies, specifically the China tariffs and USMCA, but also the tax provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Biden Administration’s efforts to shorten supply chains and bring more manufacturing to North America.

This event was held in partnership with the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Featured Speakers:

Governor Matt Blunt, President, American Automotive Policy Council

Michael Dunne, CEO, ZoZoGo; author of the upcoming book: Humiliation No More: China’s Master Plan to Dominate Electric Car Markets Worldwide

Ilaria Mazzocco, Senior Fellow, Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies 

Scott Paul, President, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM); co-author of the paper: Why Chinese Autos Could Be an “Extinction-Level Event” for America’s Auto Industry

Kenneth Smith Ramos, Partner, Agon; former lead Mexican negotiator of the USMCA

Moderator: Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Washington, DC Office; former Acting Deputy United States Trade Representative

Speaker Biographies:

Governor Matt Blunt is the President of the American Automotive Policy Council and the former governor of Missouri. He was elected Missouri’s 54th governor in 2004, carrying 101 of the state’s 114 counties. As governor, he erased a $1.1 billion budget deficit, cut taxes, enacted lawsuit reform, fostered a business climate that created over 70,000 new jobs, and increased education funding by $1.2 billion.

In 2011, American Automakers appointed Governor Blunt as AAPC’s president, in part due to his leadership as governor of one of the U.S.’s top automotive and component producing states. Since taking the helm for AAPC, Governor Blunt has raised awareness of the significant economic contributions Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company and Stellantis make to our nation’s economy.

Governor Blunt has helped advocate for trade agreements that will allow for the export of more American-made vehicles to foreign markets and trade policies that help grow the U.S. economy as a whole, especially the auto sector and its extensive manufacturing supply chain. On behalf of AAPC’s member companies, he advocated for a 21st century trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada including testimony in the U.S. House and Senate and other trade forums.

Governor Blunt has promoted the advancement of American Automakers in quality, fuel efficiency and innovation. And he has championed allowing for the acceptance of U.S. auto safety standards in foreign export markets.

Governor Blunt graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in History. Upon leaving active duty in 1998, he remained in the Naval Reserve for nearly ten years and was mobilized for six months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Governor Blunt and his wife Melanie have two sons, William Branch and Brooks.

Michael Dunne is an entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker. In 2018, Dunne founded Dunne Insights to deliver world-class advisory services on global electric and autonomous vehicle markets. Company leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia engage Dunne for expert knowledge, keynote talks and board level briefings.

Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world. 

Ilaria Mazzocco is a Senior Fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, she was a senior research associate at the Paulson Institute, where she led research on Chinese climate and energy policy for Macropolo, the institute’s think tank. She holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where her dissertation investigated Chinese industrial policy by focusing on electric vehicle promotion efforts and the role of local governments. She also holds master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Central European University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Bard College.

Scott Paul is President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established in 2007 by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union. Scott and AAM have worked to make American manufacturing and “Made in America” top-of-mind concerns for voters and our national leaders through effective advocacy, policy development, and data-driven research.

Scott is a sought-after expert on trade and manufacturing matters, testifying before numerous congressional committees and penning op-eds for The New York Times and other leading publications. He authored a chapter in the 2013 book ​ReMaking America and has written extensively about Alexander Hamilton’s role in forming U.S. national economic policy. Scott also hosts the The Manufacturing Report podcast.

Scott is the past board chair of the National Skills Coalition and sits on the Board of Visitors of the Political Science Department at the Pennsylvania State University. He also is on the Advisory Board of Indiana University’s Manufacturing Policy Initiative.

Scott earned a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from Penn State and an M.A. with honors in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Raised in the small town of Rensselaer, Indiana, he currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his family.

Kenneth Smith Ramos is Partner at Agon. He focuses on helping international clients to identify trade and foreign direct investment opportunities derived from the new generation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Mexico has negotiated, such as CPTPP, the MX-EU FTA, and the NAFTA/USMCA. Ken also advises clients who face trade barriers and assists them in developing strategies to obtain or expand access into key international markets, including Mexico.

Prior to joining Agon, Ken served as Mexico´s Chief Negotiator for the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that led to the signing of the USMCA. He has been an integral part of Mexico’s negotiating team representing several government agencies, and began his career with the team negotiating the NAFTA in 1992.

Ken holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University, and a Master’s degree in International Economics from Johns Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

The post What’s Driving Chinese Investment into the Mexican Automotive Sector? appeared first on WITA.

On Monday, February 12th, and Tuesday, February 13th, 2024, WITA hosted its sixth annual Washington International Trade Conference (WITC). This conference brought together leaders in international trade from across the U.S. and around the world to explore the trade landscape and look toward the future of trade.

DAY 2 OF THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONFERENCE 

To download the full program, click here.

The post 2024 Washington International Trade Conference appeared first on WITA.

On Friday, October 27, panelists looked at the different approaches to investment restrictions currently making their way through Congress and the Administration. 

In August, the Biden Administration released an Executive Order regarding certain US outbound investments to China in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence that present national security concerns. Treasury has received extensive public comments to its notice of proposed rulemaking to implement the Executive Order, which is just one piece of a wide range of reforms and actions under consideration by the Administration and Congress that could restrict certain outbound investments into critical technologies.

Featured Speakers:

Speaker Biographies:

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On Thursday, August 3 panelists looked at how Chinese companies, led by BYD, are making significant inroads into auto markets all around the world, including Europe with their low priced, high quality electric vehicles that have benefitted from massive subsidization. Discussants provided their perspective on what the rapid growth of the Chinese automotive industry mean for the global automotive market and trade policy, how governments should respond, and how environmental factors should be considered.

This event was held in partnership with the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Featured Speakers:

Michael Dunne, CEO, ZoZoGo

Brian Janovitz, Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Jeffrey I. Kessler, Partner, WilmerHale

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)

Moderator: Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Washington, DC Office

Speaker Biographies:

Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade, investment, and innovation, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she also served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations. She has published a series of ASPI papers on the Asian trade landscape and serves as a regular media commentator on trade and investment developments in Asia and the world.

Michael Dunne is an entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker. In 2018, Dunne founded ZoZoGo to deliver world-class advisory services on global electric and autonomous vehicle markets. Company leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia engage Dunne for expert knowledge, keynote talks and board level briefings.

Brian Janovitz currently serves as the Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Brian previously served as Director for International Economics at the National Security Council and National Economic Council, where his responsibilities included the U.S. trade and economic posture toward the People’s Republic of China, economic and clean energy economy priorities at the G7, and deepening cooperation with the European Union through the Trade and Technology Council. Prior to that, Brian served as Senior Associate General Counsel at USTR, where he litigated disputes before World Trade Organization (WTO) panels and the WTO Appellate Body, including the three disputes related to Boeing and Airbus subsidies. He also represented the United States in trade agreement negotiations, served on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and acted as the attorney responsible for energy and raw materials issues. Brian started his career as an international trade attorney at a Washington, DC law firm. Brian is originally from Orlando, Florida. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Harvard Law School.

Jeffrey I. Kessler is a partner in WilmerHale’s International Trade Practice, where he handles some of the most high-profile work in the international trade arena.  Mr. Kessler originally joined the firm in 2011 and rejoined in 2021 after serving for two years as Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance at the US Department of Commerce, the chief trade enforcement official for the US Executive Branch.

As Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, Mr. Kessler headed the 360-person office that enforces the US antidumping and countervailing duty laws, monitoring foreign compliance with trade agreements, supporting the negotiation and implementation of international trade agreements to open foreign markets, administering the Foreign-Trade Zones program, and evaluating Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion requests. Mr. Kessler was the decisionmaker in hundreds of trade remedies cases, renegotiated a series of politically charged trade pacts with foreign countries and producers, and spearheaded the largest overhaul of Commerce’s trade enforcement regulations in decades. His tenure as Assistant Secretary represents a high-point in Commerce’s trade enforcement activity, with the most ever trade remedy investigations in a single fiscal year (104), as well as several self-initiations of circumvention proceedings, and the first-ever countervailing of foreign currency undervaluation.

At WilmerHale, Mr. Kessler represents US manufacturers in high-profile trade remedy cases, including those related to fertilizer products, softwood lumber, and chemicals and plastics products. Mr. Kessler advises on both the legal and the political aspects of such cases. He regularly appears before the US Department of Commerce, the US International Trade Commission, and the US Court of International Trade. Mr. Kessler has also been involved in successfully litigating several precedent-setting cases before WTO panels and the Appellate Body, including US – Large Civil Aircraft (2nd complaint) (Article 21.5 – US), EC and certain member States – Large Civil Aircraft (Article 21.5 – US), US – Tax Incentives, Argentina – Import Measures, and Brazil – Certain Measures Concerning Taxation and Charges.

A particular area of emphasis for Mr. Kessler’s practice is China. Mr. Kessler has assisted leading US companies and industry associations—especially those in innovative, IP-intensive industries—to understand and navigate Chinese trade and investment barriers. Mr. Kessler has advised companies on issues such as China’s sector-wide subsidy programs, IP policy and enforcement, cyber sovereignty and related policies, technology transfer requirements, national security–related technical standards, and restrictions on the supply of foreign services.

Mr. Kessler advises clients on a wide range of other trade issues, including: recent US and foreign sanctions measures against Russia; the consistency of such sanctions with WTO and other international rules; the EU’s digital sovereignty agenda (including the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, the Data Act, etc.); strategic challenges that global companies face in doing business both in the US and China; compliance with issues related to forced labor, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act; possible de-listing of Chinese companies from US stock exchanges pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act; recent developments in global competition law; climate change policy, including proposals for a carbon border adjustment measure; the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework; the US proposed outbound investment screening mechanism; Section 301 tariffs and exclusions; and international trade-related aspects of large corporate transactions. 

Mr. Kessler is a frequent speaker on international trade topics, including at leading law schools and industry associations. Mr. Kessler earned his BA magna cum laude (Philosophy and Classics) from Yale University in 2005, an MA (Philosophy) from the University of Chicago in 2007, and a JD and MA (Economics) from Stanford University in 2010, where he was an Articles Editor of the Stanford Law Review and a John M. Olin Law and Economics Fellow. Mr. Kessler is a member of the American Bar Association and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama is the director of European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and a leading author on trade diplomacy, EU-Far East relations and the digital economy.

He is regularly consulted by governments and international organisations on a range of issues, from trade negotiations to economic reforms. He appears regularly in European, Chinese and US media, and is noted for his involvement in WTO and major free trade agreements. He was also named “One of the 20 most influential people for open internet” by the readers of the Guardian UK in 2012. He was the first author to argue for a WTO case on internet censorship in China.

Prior to joining ECIPE, he was an independent counsel on regulatory affairs, competition and communication, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representative of Sweden and the EU member states towards the WTO and the UN, including WIPO and UNECE. Lee-Makiyama is also a Fellow at the department International Relations at the London School of Economics, and currently shares his time between LSE and ECIPE.

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On Monday, February 13th, and Tuesday, February 14th, 2023, WITA hosted its fifth annual Washington International Trade Conference (WITC). This conference brought together leaders in international trade from across the U.S. and around the world to explore the trade landscape and look toward the future of trade.

Day 2 of the Washington International Trade Conference 

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The event began with remarks from Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA, as he introduced the first two panelists: Angela Ellard, Deputy Director-General and World Trade Organization and Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, Senior Advisor, McLarty Associates; former WTO Deputy Director General; and former Deputy USTR.

The panelists of the second panel, “Climate Diplomacy and Trade – a NextGenTrade() discussion”, included Kelly Milton, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environmental and Natural Resources, USTR, David Livingston, Managing Director for Clean Energy & Senior Advisor, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale School of the Environment and Yale Law School – on public service leave at the World Trade Organization, Julio José Prado, Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries of Ecuador, Jo Tyndall, Director, Environment Directorate, OECD, and Moderator Maureen Hinman, Co-Founder, Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator.

The third panel of the conference, “Making a More Meaningful TTC in its 3rd Year”, featured speakers Michelangelo Margherita, Head of Trade, Agriculture and Digital Economy in the Delegation of the European Union to the U.S., Jonathan McHale, Vice President, Digital Trade, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Daniel Mullaney, former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, Jason Oxman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), and Moderator Marjorie Chorlins, Senior Vice President, Europe, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

The fourth panel, “Trade, Supply Chains and Industrial Policy”, included speakers Simon J. Evenett, Professor of International Trade and Economic Development, University of St. Gallen, Founder, St. Gallen Endowment for Prosperity Through Trade, Jimmy Goodrich, Vice President, Global Policy, Semiconductor Industry Association, Hon. Nazak Nikakhtar, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP; Senior Fellow, Center for Technology Diplomacy, Purdue University; and Strategic Advisor, Silverado Policy Accelerator, Scott Paul, President, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), and Moderator Jonathan Lang, Director for Trade and Supply Chains, Industrial & Consumer, Eurasia Group.

The fifth panel focused on “U.S.-China Strategic and National Security” and included the following panelists: Amy P. Celico, Principal Albright Stonebridge Group, Dentons Global Advisors, Samm Sacks, Senior Fellow, Yale Law School, Paul Tsai China Center, Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Moderator Erin Ennis, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Dell Technologies. 

The start of the second day began with the panel providing an “Update From Congress” with U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ranking Republican, Senate Finance Committee and Moderator Steve Lamar, President & CEO, American Apparel and Footwear Association, and President of the WITA Board of Directors. 

The second panel featured an “Update on the Administration’s Trade Agenda”, Marisa Lago, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade opened the panel with remarks followed by questions from Moderator Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute and Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. Office; and former Acting Deputy United States Trade Representative. 

The closing session of the 2023 Washington International Trade Conference was the “Trade Around the World Ambassadors Roundtable” featuring Hon. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore to the United States, Hon. Karin Olofsdotter, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States, Ambassador Tamaki Tsukada, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan, Hon. Tanee Sangrat, Ambassador of Thailand to the United States, and Moderator Ambassador Susan Schwab, Strategic Advisor, Mayer Brown LLP; and former United States Trade Representative. 

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