On Tuesday, February 22, WITA and GWU discussed how the WTO has handled trade shocks and supply chains. The discussion also included how the WTO and globalization have responded to international trade being subjected to increased geo-political uncertainty and a major global health shock.

Featured Remarks:

Jay Shambaugh, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. 

Discussion Featuring:

Bob Koopman, Chief Economist of the World Trade Organization, Adjunct Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva. 

Moderator: Michael Moore, Director of the Masters of Arts in International Economic Policy program, former Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, former Director of the International Trade and Investment Policy Program

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:

Jay Shambaugh is a Professor of Economics and International Affairs and the Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. 

Professor Shambaugh’s area of research is macroeconomics and international economics. His work includes analysis of the interaction of exchange rate regimes with monetary policy, capital flows, and trade flows as well as studies of international reserves holdings, country balance sheet exchange rate exposure, the cross-country impact of fiscal policy, the crisis in the euro area, and regional growth disparities.

He has had two stints in public service. He served as a Member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors from 2015-2017. Earlier, he served on the staff of the CEA as a Senior Economist for International Economics and then as the Chief Economist. He also spent 3 years as the Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER and Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings.

Prior to joining the faculty at George Washington, Shambaugh taught at Georgetown and Dartmouth and was a visiting scholar at the IMF. Shambaugh received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. from the Fletcher School at Tufts, and a B.A. from Yale University.

Robert B. Koopman serves as the Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division at the World Trade Organization. In this post Bob provides the Secretariat and Member Countries with analysis and information that promotes a deeper understanding of trade and trade policy’s role in economic growth and development.

Prior to this post he served as the Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for the United States International Trade Commission. Bob oversaw the Commission’s trade policy research and negotiation assistance to the President, the U.S. Trade Representative, and Congress; antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard; investigations; intellectual property investigations; maintenance and analysis of the Harmonized Tariff System, as well as the agency’s strategic planning and performance measurement initiatives. He also previously served as the Chief Economist and Director of the USITC Office of Economics, and numerous leadership and research positions at the Economic Research Service of USDA.

Bob previously taught international trade, applied international trade, advanced international trade, and trade and economic development in the Economics Department at Georgetown University, in Washington DC. Bob‘s research interests include measuring the economic effects of trade and trade policy changes, measuring global value chains, and the application and validation of large scale economic simulation models. Bob also currently serves as an ex officio member of the World Trade Review Editorial Board, and serves as an editor for the Springer Series Advances in Applied General Equilibrium Modeling, with James Giesecke and Peter Dixon.

Professor Michael Moore is Director of the Masters of Arts in International Economic Policy program and has been a faculty member at the Elliott School since receiving his doctorate in 1988. He received his B.A. in liberal arts from the University of Texas at Austin and his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Moore teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in international trade theory and policy as well as international macroeconomics. He also has taught international economics to US diplomats at the Foreign Service Institute and students at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Sciences-Po) in Paris. He has published in numerous academic journals including the Journal of International Economics, International Trade Journal, Canadian Journal of Economics, Review of International Economics, European Journal of Political Economy, and Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, and has been a contributor to five books. His commentary has appeared in numerous media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Financial Times, CNN, CBC, NPR, and NBC.

Professor Moore has served as Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, Director of the International Trade and Investment Policy Program, and Associate Dean at the Elliott School.

Professor Moore served as Senior Economist for international trade on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2002 to 2003.

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On Tuesday, November 9th, WITA and the International Trade Center DC welcomed Frank Lavin to discuss his new book, “The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce“, and looked at how consumer brands can take advantage of this revolution in Chinese consumer behavior.

WITA Webinar Featuring:

Frank Lavin, author of “The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce“, Chairman of Export Now

Andrew Gelfuso, Vice President, Trade Center Management Associates

Maxwell Kahn, President, Coresight Research

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Frank Lavin is the CEO and founder of Export Now, a U.S. firm that operates e-commerce stores in China for international brands. Established in 2010, Export Now is the largest off-shore operator of China e-commerce stores, helping brands from around the world in strategy and operations.

In Government, Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce 2005-2007. In that capacity, Lavin served as lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was the senior policy official in the Department responsible for commercial policy, export promotion, and trade negotiations across the globe. Lavin was U.S. Ambassador to Singapore from 2001-05, where his duties included helping negotiate the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

In the private sector, Lavin served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Edelman, Bank of America, and Citibank.

Previously, Lavin served in the George H.W. Bush and Reagan Administrations, working in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, National Security Council, and White House. Lavin served as Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs.

Lavin earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service (Georgetown); an M.S. in Chinese Language and History (Georgetown); an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins); and an M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School (Pennsylvania).

He is a columnist for Forbes.com and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other Periodicals. Lavin is the author of “The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce,” (Penguin), and co-author of “Export Now,” (Wiley) on market entry strategies. He also authored a World War II history book, “Home Front to Battlefront” (Ohio University Press).

Lavin serves as a Trustee of The Asia Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Advanced MedTech Holdings, a medical technologies company. He is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors and on the Advisory Board of ECIPE, a Brussels think-tank. Lavin previously served as Steering Committee Chairman of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo USA Pavilion. Lavin served as a Lt Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves.

Maxwell Kahn is the President of Coresight Research. Maxwell hails from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School. He began his career at McKinsey and then he further developed his expertise in the consumer at Johnson & Johnson and Merck in both operating and venture investing roles.

Before Coresight, Max spent five years between two roles for Wiser Together as a board member and ultimately CEO. Max understands the importance of delivering a great retail experience supported by strong technology. This expertise has exemplified his career in banking, consulting and investing.

Andrew F. Gelfuso is Vice-President at Trade Center Management Associates (TCMA), a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of the Boston based Drew Company. TCMA serves as the fullservice, property management company for the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. This facility is also designated as the official World Trade Center of Washington, DC, which is part of the global network of the Centers with affiliates in over 90 countries around the world. As Vice-President, Mr. Gelfuso leads the global mission of the Center while focusing on international business development, program promotion, business matchmaking, outreach, trade counseling, strategic partnerships, government, and diplomatic relations.

Under Mr. Gelfuso’s leadership, the Office for Trade Promotion is responsible for driving the Congressional mandate of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center and for positioning the Center to be Washington’s focal point for a wide array of international trade, cultural, and educational programming.

Mr. Gelfuso graduated in 1997 from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, with a degree in Political Science. He earned his MBA with a concentration in International Business in 2001 from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. In the spring of 1996, he earned a certificate from Vietnam National University in Vietnamese. Mr. Gelfuso has authored articles on international trade which have been published in several newspapers.

Mr. Gelfuso serves on the board of the Embassy Series, the Corporate Committee for the National Trust for the Mall, the District Export Council of DC/VA (DEC), and serves as an advisor on the Administration’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC) appointed by the Secretary of Commerce.

The post WITA Webinar: How Consumer Brands Can e-Succeed in China appeared first on WITA.

On Wednesday, June 23, WITA hosted Part 2 of our Two Part Series on the G7 and U.S. – EU Summits, in partnership with the Institute for International Economic Policy at The George Washington University.

WITA Webinar Featuring: 

Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States

Ambassador Karen Pierce DCMG, British Ambassador to the United States

Moderator: Daniel M. Price, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors; former Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis is the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States. From 2012 to February 2019, he served as the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights. In 2011, he was Foreign Affairs Minister of Greece.

Between 2004 and 2011, he was twice elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the Greek Social Democratic Party (PASOK). He served as Vice-President of the European Parliament (2009-11), Vice-President of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (2004-09), and Head of the PASOK Delegation (2005-11). Between 2000 and 2004, he was Director-General of the International Olympic Truce Centre, an International Olympic Committee organization.

He served as Ambassador ad personam of the Hellenic Republic (1999-2004); Secretary-General of the Greek Foreign Ministry, responsible for Expatriate Greeks (1996-99); and Chief of Staff to the Greek Foreign Minister (1996). Between 1988 and 1993 he worked as an Attorney at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C., specializing in international trade, transactions, and arbitration.

Mr. Lambrinidis was born in Athens, Greece in 1962. He studied Economics and Political Science at Amherst College (Bachelor of Arts degree, 1984) and Law at Yale Law School (Juris Doctor degree, 1988), where he was also Managing Editor of The Yale Journal of International Law. He is a 1980 graduate of the Athens College High School in Greece. He is married and has a daughter.

Ambassador Karen Pierce DCMG is the British Ambassador to the United States. Before arriving in DC, Pierce was the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Prior to this role, Karen served as the Director General for Political Affairs and Chief Operating Officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, from 2016.

Karen joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1981. Her first role was in Tokyo between 1984 and 1987, after which she returned to the UK to work in the Security Policy Department. Karen worked in Washington as the Private Secretary to the British Ambassador to the United States between 1992 and 1995. Between 1996 and 2006, Karen held several positions in London including Team Leader for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Deputy Head of Eastern Adriatic (Balkans) Department, Head of Newsroom, Head of EU Department (Bilateral) and concurrently Head of Afghanistan Political Military Unit after 9/11 before returning to the Balkans as Balkans Coordinator from 2002 to 2006.

In 2006, Karen moved to New York for the first time to be the Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador at the UK Mission to the UN. In 2009, she returned to London to become the Director of South Asia and Afghanistan Department and the UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2012, Karen started her second multilateral role, this time in Geneva, where she was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UK Mission to the United Nations, World Trade Organization and Other International Organisations until 2015. Between 2015 and 2016 Karen was the UK’s Ambassador to Afghanistan.

Daniel M. Price is Managing Director and co-founder of Rock Creek Global Advisors, an international economic policy advisory firm, where he focuses on international regulatory and policy matters. Mr. Price advises multinational companies and financial institutions on trade policy, financial regulatory issues, geopolitical risk, and matters arising in global forums (G7, G20, and APEC).

Previously, Mr. Price served in the Administration of George W. Bush as the senior White House official responsible for international trade and investment, development assistance, and the international aspects of financial reform, energy security, and climate change.

Mr. Price was the President’s personal representative to the G8, the G20 Financial Summit, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. He was US chair of cabinet-level economic dialogues with Brazil, India, and the European Union.

Before and after his White House service, Mr. Price was a partner with Sidley Austin LLP, having founded and chaired the firm’s 60-member International Trade & Dispute Resolution group. Mr. Price counseled multinational companies on trade, investment, national security, and sanctions issues, and represented companies and governments in WTO, investment treaty, and NAFTA disputes. Earlier, Mr. Price served as Principal Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the US Trade Representative and as Deputy Agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague.

Mr. Price has appeared on BBC, CNBC, PBS, and Bloomberg TV. His articles have been published in the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Price was educated at Haverford College, Cambridge University, and Harvard Law School, where he was an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Kenneth Levinson is the Executive Director of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA). WITA is Washington’s largest non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum in the U.S. capital for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA has over 4,500 members, and more than 170 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

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 started his career on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, where he served as the Senator’s chief advisor for international trade, tax, foreign policy, and national security.

Ken received a Master’s degree in European History 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.

Michael Moore is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and Department of Economics. Professor Moore was the founding director for both the Elliott School’s International Trade and Investment Policy master’s program, and the Institute for International Economic Policy. Professor Moore received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and obtained a B.A. in Liberal Arts (Plan II) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Moore’s main area of research is trade policy, especially WTO related issues. Recent worked has focused on antidumping use in the developing world, whether carbon tariffs are consistent with WTO rules, and whether trade liberalization has affected the patterns of government spending in developing countries.

He has had a joint appointment with the Elliott School of International Affairs and the Department of Economics at the George Washington University since receiving his doctorate in 1988. He served as associate dean of the Elliott School from 1995 through 1997. He also has taught international economics to US diplomats at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute.

Professor Moore served as Senior Economist for International Trade at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from July 2002 through July 2003.

He teaches courses at the undergraduate, masters and PhD courses on international economics. For a description of courses, please click here . Professor Moore has also developed a series of Quicktime videos for students wishing to review economics topics.

Professor Moore spent 1984-1985 as a graduate student at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany. During 1994-1995, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Brussels at the Center for European Policy Studies and a German-Marshall Fellow at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (“Sciences-Po”) in Paris. In summer 1998, he was a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore. Professor Moore frequently has taught a course on US Trade Policy to graduate students at Sciences-Po.

Professor Moore speaks German fluently and is proficient in French and Spanish.

He was born in Borger, Texas and later moved to Baytown, Texas. He graduated from Ross Sterling High School in 1975.

Co-Hosted with the Institute for International Economic Policy at The George Washington University 

The post WITA Webinar: What Was Achieved at the U.S.-EU and G7 Summits appeared first on WITA.

On February 25, 2021, WITA held an event looking into the effects of the pandemic on global supply chains.

The global pandemic, spreading around the world for over a year, has massively disrupted global supply chains. This has undermined the delicate equilibrium at the world’s ports, where the interests of consumers, farmers, and manufacturers meet shipping, air freight, rail, trucking, and logistics.

PROGRAM AGENDA

Welcome

• Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director, Washington International Trade Association

Remarks and Panelist Discussion

• Karyn Booth, Partner and Transportation Practice Group Leader, Thompson Hine LLP
• Dr. Noel Hacegaba, Deputy Executive Director / COO, The Port of Long Beach
• Nate Herman, Senior Vice President, Policy, American Apparel & Footwear Association
• Weston LaBar, Chief Executive Officer, Harbor Trucking Association
• Moderator, Lori Ann LaRocco, Sr. Editor of Guests, CNBC Business News, Breaking News/Booking

Followed by: 

• Q & A with Audience Moderated by Ken – Webinar attendees are encouraged to use the Q&A function on the Zoom app to submit their questions in real time.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Karyn Booth is a partner and leader of Thompson Hine’s Transportation group. Karyn represents US importers and exporters, and 3PLs and NVOCCS, on international ocean shipping and related intermodal transportation matters. She has been at the forefront of major policy reforms and proceedings before the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) involving demurrage and detention, passage and implementation of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998, and modernization of the rules governing cargo loss and damage occurring during sea transport. Karyn was counsel to the Coalition for Fair Port Practices which led the efforts at the FMC resulting in a rule on reasonable demurrage and detention practices and was an industry advisor to the US delegation that negotiated the Rotterdam Rules before UNCITRAL. She serves as general counsel to The National Industrial Transportation League, one of the nation’s oldest organizations who serves as the “voice of the shipper” in freight transportation policy matters and is a recent past President of the Association for Transportation Law Professionals.  

Karyn has been consistently recognized for her work in transportation law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, and Washington, DC Super Lawyers. America’s Leading Lawyers named her “Lawyer of the Year” in Washington D.C. in 2017. 

Karyn’s practice is multi-modal and she is a strategic advisor for companies on compliance with transportation laws and regulations and has extensive experience with contracts involving ocean carriers, 3PLS, NVOCCs, warehouseman and other service providers. Based in Washington, DC, she routinely practices before federal transportation agencies, such as the FMC, Surface Transportation Board (STB), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Dr. Noel Hacegaba is responsible for managing the day-to-day administration and operations of the Port of Long Beach, North America’s second-busiest container port. Previously, he served as the Port’s Chief Commercial Officer and successfully managed the Port’s commercial operations during a period of significant industry realignment. He led the recovery of its largest terminal following the biggest bankruptcy in shipping line industry history, setting the path for record cargo volumes in 2017 and 2018.

Dr. Hacegaba has more than 24 years of public and private sector experience spanning a variety of industries. Prior to joining the Port, he managed $200 million in contracts for a Fortune 500 company. Dr. Hacegaba is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned degrees in economics (BA and MA), business administration (BS) and planning (MPL). He also earned his doctorate degree in public administration from the University of La Verne.  

He currently serves on the Boards of various industry and non-profit organizations, including the Marine Exchange of Southern California and the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), where he serves as Chairman of the Board.

Nate Herman oversees AAFA’s government relations department, managing the association’s lobbying, policy, and regulatory affairs activities. Nate leads AAFA’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, formulating and implementing CSR policy and representing AAFA and the industry on CSR issues before governments, NGOs, and other key stakeholders. In addition, Nate develops all apparel and footwear industry data and statistics as AAFA’s resident economist.

Prior to joining AAFA, Nate worked for six years at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration assisting U.S. firms in entering the global market. Nate spent the last two years as the Department’s industry analyst for the footwear and travel goods industries.

Nate received a Masters of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Economics from the University of Delaware in 1992.

Weston LaBar is the Chief Executive Officer of the Harbor Trucking Association and founding President and CEO of Ventures 52 a bespoke Private Equity Advisory focused on early-stage freight technology start-ups. He has a decade of experience as a strategic advisor and executive while managing trade associations, as well as large advocacy and external affairs projects. He is active in local, state, and federal policy making on goods movement and international trade.

As CEO of the HTA, Weston has lead countless initiatives with other stakeholders in the global supply-chain to increase port productivity. The HTA has been an industry leader in developing and adopting technology solutions that create efficiencies with various partners and have become the industry voice for the national drayage community. 

Lori Ann LaRocco is senior editor of guests for CNBC business news. She coordinates high profile interviews and special multi-million dollar on-location productions for all shows on the network. Her specialty is in politics, working with titans of industry. LaRocco is the author of: “Trade War: Containers Don’t Lie, Navigating the Bluster” (Marine Money Inc., 2019) “Dynasties of the Sea: The Untold Stories of the Postwar Shipping Pioneers” (Marine Money Inc., 2018), “Opportunity Knocking” (Agate Publishing, 2014), “Dynasties of the Sea: The Ships and Entrepreneurs Who Ushered in the Era of Free Trade” (Marine Money, 2012), and “Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today’s Top Business Minds” (Wiley, 2010).

LaRocco has been working at the network since 2000. Her track record has garnered the trust and respect from Wall Street rainmakers to Washington. Establishing relationships with some of the best in business, LaRocco’s contacts have told her first of business deals in the billions of dollars, enabling CNBC to break the news first.

Prior to joining CNBC, LaRocco was an anchor, reporter and assignment editor in various local news markets around the country.

Kenneth Levinson is the Executive Director of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA). WITA is Washington’s largest non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum in the U.S. capital for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA has over 4,000 members, and more than 170 corporate sponsors and group memberships.

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 started his career on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, where he served as the Senator’s chief advisor for international trade, tax, foreign policy, and national security.

Ken received a Master’s degree in European History 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 Monday, February 8th, and Tuesday, February 9th, 2021, WITA hosted its third annual Washington International Trade Conference (WITC) for the first time virtually. This conference brought together leaders in both the public and private trade sectors to discuss pressing issues and trends surrounding trade policy. 

The event began with remarks from Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA, as he introduced the first group of panelists: Wendy Cutler, President and Managing Director at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Susan Shirk, Research Professor at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, Aaron L. Friedberg, Professor of Politics & International Affairs at Princeton University, and Ambassador Kurt Tong, Partner at The Asia Group, who shared their thoughts on how trade fits into the overall US-China relationship. 

The U.S. China panel was primarily focused around the overall US-China relationship and how trade fits into the larger picture. From joining the WTO to now, China has significantly increased its dominance in global trade, economic, and financial markets and has now become a credible threat to U.S. hegemony due to large economic pressure.

Looking forward to the Biden administration, the panelists discussed where we are now in our relationship with China, how the Biden review will be conducted, and how trade fits into this multi-faceted relationship. Over the past few months we have seen RCEP signed, the development of the China EU investment deal, and we have now heard talk about China reviving trilateral negotiations with Japan and Korea. The panelists explored the potential impact of the Biden review and present internal focus on China’s growing hegemonic status. 

The Trade & Environmental Sustainability Panel focused on the growing global concern of climate change and how this issue intersects with trade. As the United States has most recently rejoined the Paris Accords and a variety of new executive orders have underpinned the Biden administration’s focus on mitigating climate change, there has been a shift in the international system on the pertinence of this issue. It is important to recognize where the U.S. and its allies now stand on sustainable policies that influence trade and consider how realistic it would be for less developed countries to accommodate the necessary standard to fight climate change. 

The discussion focused on both the EU and New Zealand’s positions on climate change as they relate to trade and what we should center our negotiations on going forward. Although there is promise with the Biden administration on these issues, it is undetermined what the administration’s nationally determined contribution in the Paris agreement will be which will be an important indicator of the level of emissions and leadership role on climate change. The panelists were Amb. Robert Holleyman, Partner at Crowell & Morning LLP, C&M International, Amb. Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Madelaine Tuininga, DG Trade Head of Unit in the European Commission, and Himamauli Das, Senior Managing Director at K2 Integrity. 

The next panel centered around finding a way forward on digital trade and delved into the intersection between trade and technology. As more and more countries are considering how they may tax or regulate the space, this issue has become of increasing relevance. As digital tools are a crucial driver of U.S. economic growth, it is clear they present both an incredible opportunity for progress and new challenges. The panelists featured were Arrow Augerot, Director of America’s Public Policy at Amazon, Jason Oxman, President & CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, Sahra English, Vice President of Public Policy at Mastercard, and Peter Swire, Senior Counsel at Alston & Bird LLP. 

The final panel of the day was the Ambassadors Trade Roundtable with panelists: Amb. Susan Schwab, Mayer Brown LLP, Dame Karen Pierce DCMG, British Ambassador to the USA, Amb. Nestor Forster Brazil’s Ambassador to the USA, Amb. Stavros Lambrinidis EU Ambassador to the USA, and Amb. Arthur Sinodinos Australia’s Ambassador to the USA. The ambassadors shed light on the trade landscape from their perspectives and offered insight into what is important in their countries in dealing with the U.S. and other trading partners. The discussion later touched on the future of the WTO and what each ambassador saw as top priorities for the organization to address.

The second day of WITA’s virtual conference program opened with remarks from Kenneth I. Levinson, Executive Director of WITA and Amb. Alan Wm. Wolff, Deputy Director General of the WTO. Amb. Alan Wolff shared his thoughts on necessary reform and revitalization of the WTO and how its role should evolve. Terence Stewart, author of the blog Current Thoughts on Trade, joined the discussion and gauged Amb. Wolff’s perspective on the WTO’s interest in engaging in more sectoral and regional trade agreements. 

The following panel built off of the previous discussion into a more in-depth conversation about WTO Revitalization & Reform from a broader group of perspectives. Many of the panelists highlighted the importance of improving our relationship with China, getting our dispute settlement system back on track and addressing pertinent 21st century issues such as those involving digital trade and climate change. The panelists featured were Amb. Rufus Yerxa, National Foreign Trade Council, Jennifer Hillman, Council on Foreign Relations, Simon Evenett from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Hiddo Houben, EU Mission to the WTO.

The next panel centered around the question: “What would a Neo-Progressive Trade Agenda look like?” with panelists from around the world. The panel opened with an introductory discussion of how the WTO has lagged in recognizing the intersection of trade with other issues today and the importance of looking at things in a more wholistic way. Some of the speakers brought up issues related to the environment, gender and labor that requires a new model of trade in order to create shared prosperity and growth. The panelists featured were: Catherine Novelli, Listening For America, Beth Baltzan, American Phoenix Trade Advisory Service, Catherine Feingold AFL-CIO International Department, Katrin Kuhlmann, New Markets Lab, and Kimberley Botwright from the World Economic Forum. 

For the closing keynote and discussion of the conference, WITA was pleased to present Chairman Neal of the House Ways & Means Committee who offered his insight into the contours of trade policy in 2021 and Steve Lamar of the American Apparel & Footwear Association and WITA’s Board President. The Chairman stressed the importance of using trade tools to address many of the issues we face today and the promise of the Biden administration to tackle inequities and reassert U.S. leadership.  

The post 2021 Washington International Trade Conference Recap appeared first on WITA.

On January 7, 2021, WITA held an event looking at the Trump Administration’s investigation of Vietnam under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.

The 301 investigation  was intended to determine whether Vietnam has undervalued its currency in order to make its products unfairly cheap abroad, and to probe the country’s importation and use of timber that may have been illegally harvested and traded. On December 16, the U.S. Department of the Treasury formally labeled Vietnam a currency manipulator, accusing it of improperly intervening in foreign exchange markets to advantage its own exports.

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WITA Webinar Featuring: 

Ralph Carter, Staff Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, FedEx Corporation

Phil Levy, Chief Economist, Flexport

Curtis Robinhold, Executive Director, Port of Portland

Evelyn Suarez, Principal, The Suarez Firm 

Webinar Summary:

Moderator Evelyn Suarez began by asking the panelists how the pandemic has been impacting trade, which led to a discussion with Phil Levy on recent decreases in the rate of air freight transportation on commercial flights as well as ocean shipping. Curtis Robinhold relayed that marine port tonnage has also declined, and noted a fast dip in automobile imports.

Ralph Carter outlined the changes made within FedEx to ensure the health and safety of the company’s frontline workers by increasing virtual operations while also managing varying regulations employed by countries around the world.

Following the discussion on Covid19’s impact on trade, the panelists answered Evelyn’s questions regarding the future of U.S. trade policy with China and the EU, lessons learned about the importance of each step in the global supply chain, and the overall necessity to adapt new policies, especially those involving technology and virtual communication.

The session wrapped up with a Q&A, and the panelists responded to questions from the Teamsters about worker safety, an inquiry about empty container management following the pandemic, and how future  negotiations with the EU will affect supply chains. 

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On Thursday, April 23rd, WITA co-hosted a webinar with Asia Society Policy Group on the current shortcomings of global supply chains, and how trade policy should respond post-COVID.

The event featured (in order of appearance):

• Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director of Washington D.C. Office, Asia Society Policy Institute
• Beth Baltzan, American Phoenix Trade Advisory Service and formerly with USTR and the House Ways & Means Committee
• Anabel Gonzalez, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Minister of Trade of Costa Rica
• Nicole Bivens Collinson, President, International Trade & Government Relations, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg P.A.

The post WITA Webinar: Impact of COVID-19 on Global Supply Chains and the Future of Trade Policy appeared first on WITA.

On Thursday, March 26th, WITA cohosted its first webinar with the Asia Society Policy Institute on global problems faced during the current COVID-19 pandemic entitled: COVID-19 and Trade – A WTO Agenda.

Featuring (in order of appearance)

• Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director of the Asia Society Policy Institute Washington DC Office
• Ambassador Alan Wolff, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization
• Professor Simon J. Evenett, Swiss Institute of International Economics and Department of Economics at the University of St. Gallen
• Trevor Gunn, Vice President of International Relations at Medtronic
• Suzanna Fisher, First Secretary (Trade) for the Embassy of Australia to the United States

WITA’s Executive Director, Ken Levinson, moderated the discussion

The post COVID-19 and Trade – A WTO Agenda appeared first on WITA.

Trade Around the World

By: Madelyn Cunningham

The concluding panel of the 2020 Washington International Trade Conference was “Trade Around the World,” a discussion featuring ambassadors H.E. Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia, H.E. Rosemary Banks, Ambassador of New Zealand, H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union, and H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore. Laura Lane, President of Global Affairs for UPS, moderated the discussion through trade relations and FDI between their countries and the United States and the dissolution of the Appellate Body in the WTO.

Laura Lane opened the panel by discussing the relationship between Singapore and the United States, asking Ambassador Mirpuri to talk about this partnership and possible trade interests of Singapore in the future. Ambassador Mirpuri starts by stating the growing importance of trade in the political sphere, acknowledging that while the audience may have some familiarity with Singapore whether that be through business or the trade relationship with the United States, Singapore is a hyper-globalized country driven by trade.

Trade drives the Singaporean economy, but H.E. Mirpuri brought up the new challenges regarding issues of trade and expressed the need to identify where global trade will be going because of geopolitical conflict, recent anti-globalization and protectionist efforts, and the fourth wave of industrialization. To address these issues and changes, Mirpuri expressed that through the U.S. – Singapore trade relationship, Singapore has shifted its mindset towards future problems and adjusting in this age of digitization and global changes.

Ambassador Mirpuri stressed the need for a rules-based system in the WTO, explaining that for small countries especially, there must be an established system of rules and operations in order for the world dispute settlement process to be fully functioning. To account for the current instability in the WTO and the changing trade atmosphere with digitization, Ambassador Mirpuri identified how Singapore has been adapting.

Mirpuri stated that last month, partnered with New Zealand and Chile, Singapore concluded the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and hopes agreement will act as a “pathfinder” for e-commerce. Another significant change was the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is currently going through the ratification process.

Moderator Lane then shifted the conversation to bring in New Zealand Ambassador, H.E. Rosemary Banks, asking where she saw the U.S. – New Zealand relationship currently, and the issues on New Zealand’s trade agenda. Ambassador Banks brought up research recently done on the relationship between New Zealand and the United States, which concluded that the first time the country asked for a reciprocal trade agreement with the U.S. was in 1939. She stated that while trade relationships can take a long time, 80 years is a little excessive.

Ambassador Banks then brought up the direction of New Zealand trade policy, she stated that over the last 25 years, there has been significant emphasis on negotiating comprehensive bilateral agreements, establishing relationships with Asian Pacific countries, and maintaining global influence through existing trade agreements. While this has worked in favor of New Zealand, there is worry over taking assumptions of the three-pronged system for granted and the response to encourage the “open-pluralism approach”. Banks called back to Zoellick’s point in his remarks regarding the gap in systems for the process of creating new laws and rules.

Ambassador Banks expressed New Zealand’s excitement to head as the APEC Chair of 2021 in the form of a work program to be established this year, stating that there is a great need for multilateral trade relationships and a functioning and comprehensive dispute settlement system for trade issues. Banks concluded by answering a question asked in Ambassador Zoellick’s session regarding the importance of international trade.

To this, she brought up the “Trade for All Initiative”, a country-wide exercise that involved a consultation to listen to the entire population about their vision for trade policy. Through this consultation, it was found that there is a great divide as to thoughts on current New Zealand trade policy and whether or not it should be shifted in regard to the values of sustainability and equal economic empowerment.

Lane then brought Ambassador of Ethiopia, H.E. Fitsum Arega, into the conversation. With the recent push towards a multilateral trading system and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), Lane asked how this would tie into a future trade relationship between the United States and Ethiopia.

Ambassador Arega responded with increasing public investment of the Ethiopian government, both social and economic, strengthening the education sector and industrial infrastructure of the country. There is a growing preparation for global trade agreements and relationships in Ethiopia, and Arega identified Africa as the next frontier for business investment and trade because of these changes both domestically and continentally.

In addition to domestic reform, Ambassador Arega stated that the newly elected prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has made Ethiopian involvement in the World Trade Organization and global trade has a priority in recent years. Arega also identified the vast potential for a United States trade partnership with Ethiopia, as it builds its infrastructure, it has also been building an environmentally sustainable textile market. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is also a turning point for the continent, Arega explained, allowing for greater opportunities for processing and attractive investment.

Lane turned to H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union, she asked whether or not the optimism for a US-EU trade agreement and future policies is warranted. Ambassador Lambrinidis responded that there is good reason to believe in the negotiations of future policy. He stated that when talking about the relationship between the United States and European Union, the benefits of this relationship could demonstrate that free trade can work in a globalized system and not in a way that would isolate certain countries.

Ambassador Lambrinidis identified the single European market as the biggest deregulation experiment in the world, allowing for an open market without borders of the most profitable businesses globally. The key focus of negotiations of a free market should be on the future, and special attention should be placed on the functions of said market from the grassroots of the economy to measure its effectiveness.

Lambrinidis also stated that the success of the single market is also reliant on the European progressive, values-based system; as trade is not only about making money, but about assigning values. GSP+ agreements establish that in order to negotiate and maintain a relationship, countries must also ensure human rights and sustainability practices.

Ambassador Lambrinidis then brought up the need for an established, rules-based system in the WTO and broader world order, as it is not only important to small countries, but also to large markets. Lambrinidis expressed great disdain for unilateral efforts to “destroy” the WTO, and while it is not easy to reverse protectionist and mercantilist policies and economies, he argued that the WTO must become stronger in the face of these issues and enforcing these changes.

With the changing world order comes new standards according to Lambrinidis, and no matter where countries are in their development, he believed there should be no exceptions to the implementation of these standards.

To further this point, Lane asked the panel to expand on their thoughts on the need to strengthen international systems and reforming the dispute settlement system of the WTO into this decade. Ambassador Rosemary Banks started the discussion, she stated that the first challenge of reforming multilateral organizations is having absolute commitment from major players of said organization.

Lane then moved on to special treatment for developing nations, especially as China, while a trade “powerhouse”, still receives exceptions from the WTO due to its first introduction as a developing country. Ambassador Lambrinidis identified this fact as a significant area of the WTO in need of reform as well as transparency and the Appellate Body.

He then stated that the WTO will always be in danger of collapsing as long as countries believe they are powerful enough to perform unilaterally and outside of its systems. He argued that without a neutral referee or party prosiding, dispute settlement will never work multilaterally, no matter how developed a rules-based system may be. China must play a bigger role in demanding rights but also in accepting obligations, and must be on board with future reforms.

Featuring:

H.E. Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia to the United States 

H.E. Rosemary Banks, Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States

H.E. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States

H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore to the United States

Laura Lane, moderator, President, Global Public Affairs, UPS

To view more details about the event, visit the event page here.

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