Program Agenda and Speakers

8:30 AM: Doors open for networking coffee

9:00 AM: Event start time

9:05 AM: Armchair Discussion

Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, Strategic Advisor, Mayer Brown; former United States Trade Representative

Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Delegation of the European Union to the United States; former Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania

9:35 AM: Panel on US-EU Trade & Investment

Marco Margheri, Head of US Relations, Eni; Chairman, Eni New Energies US Inc.

Penny Naas, Lead, GMF Allied Competitiveness, German Marshall Fund

Jonathan Samford, Incoming President & CEO, Global Business Alliance

Lisa Schroeter, Global Director of Trade & Investment Policy, Dow

10:30 AM: Event conclusion

Additional Speakers to be Announced…

Speaker Biographies

Ambassador Schwab served as U.S. Trade Representative (2006–09) and as deputy (2005–06). As USTR, she concluded free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, South Korea and others; and launched the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. She pursued and/or settled trade disputes with various WTO members, including China, Canada, and the EU, and engaged in negotiations at the WTO, APEC and other regional or plurilateral settings.

In academia, she served as dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland; and as vice chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) & CEO of the USM Foundation. She still teaches classes in international trade.

In the private sector, Schwab was director of corporate business development for Motorola, Inc., where she engaged in M&A and joint venture negotiations in Asia, including in China.

Earlier in government, she served as assistant secretary of Commerce and director-general of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, as a trade staffer and legislative director for Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO), and as a foreign service officer at the US Embassy in Tokyo. She began her career as an agricultural trade negotiator at USTR.

Ambassador Schwab serves on the boards of Caterpillar, FedEx and Marriott. She chairs the board of The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), and is on the boards of The Conference Board, Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and Signature Theatre of Arlington, VA.

She holds a BA from Williams College; a Master’s from Stanford University; and a Ph.D. from The George Washington University.

Jovita Neliupšienė became the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States on January 1, 2024. Before that, she was a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from September 2022, where she was responsible for the coordination of European Affairs, European bilateral and regional issues, as well as national sanctions coordinator.

From 2020-2022, she was Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania, tasked with investment and export promotion, international cooperation, including policy coordination of state-owned enterprises, as well as chairing the interagency commission for export control.

In 2020, she held the post of Chancellor and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. This position included responsibility for staff coordination, legal and consular affairs. Between 2015-2020, she served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU. These years were marked by the migration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 2009-2015, she worked as an advisor and chief foreign policy advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite. She was responsible for foreign policy coordination, inter-institutional relations, as well as the role of sherpa/EU advisor, and in this respect took a leading position in preparing and coordinating the Lithuanian presidency of the EU Council in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded the State Decoration Order “For Merit to Lithuania” Commander’s Cross.

Marco Margheri is the Head of Eni’s US Relations and Chairman of Eni New Energies US Inc. He oversees relations with US Authorities, US-based IFIs, and multilateral processes of interest for the company. Marco is also serving as Board Member for the Atlantic Council, a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Chair for Italy of the WEC – World Energy Council. Prior to joining Eni, he was Italy’s Edison Executive Vice-President for Sustainability, Institutions & Regulation overseeing activities in Rome and Brussels, and held positions with GE Oil & Gas and Cohn Wolfe. Marco is also a visiting professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, a member of the Italian press and an Honorary Member of the Milano per la Scala Foundation in Milan.

Penelope (Penny) Naas is Lead for GMF Allied Competitiveness at the German Marshall Fund. She is a global public policy leader who designs strategies on international economic issues that sit at the nexus of geopolitics, trade, and climate. She is an adviser for TradeExperettes, a global organization of women trade experts.

Naas has created innovative strategies and solutions for Citigroup and, more recently, for UPS as its president for international public affairs and global sustainability. She opened and was managing director of Citigroup’s first government affairs office in Brussels between 2007 and 2012 before leading UPS’s international team from 2012 to 2019. She started her career at the US Department of Commerce, where she worked for 13 years on international economic issues and advancing the commercial interests of US companies in Europe.

Naas holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is on several boards and has co-chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment.

Lisa Schroeter is the Global Director of Trade and Investment Policy for The Dow Chemical Company. As part of the corporate Government Affairs & Public Policy team, Lisa has direct responsibilities for defining and managing the company’s global trade agenda as well as developing strategy on the international aspects of key corporate issues. Based in Washington, DC, Lisa’s responsibilities focus on trade policy and legislation, trade negotiations, and investment issues that foster growth in Dow’s global businesses through identification of policies facilitating market access and reducing global distribution costs.

Before joining Dow, Lisa was the Executive Director of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD). TABD is a unique trade-facilitation process by which American and European corporations work with the U.S. Administration and the European Commission to implement practical, detailed recommendations. Lisa was responsible for staffing the U.S. Chair CEO, working with the issue committees to develop and promote their recommendations, and facilitating business and government interaction. Ms. Schroeter joined TABD in 1999, and managed the process on behalf of the Boeing Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, United Technologies Corporation and Xerox.

Lisa is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); President-Elect of Women in International Trade (WIIT) and a Board Member of the Washington International Trade Association, US Council for International Business the US-ASEAN Business Council and Cultural Tourism, DC. She serves as the Chair of the ICCA Trade Network and Global Regulatory Cooperation task forces as well as the US Business Committee of the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN).

As a long-term DC resident, Lisa is also a Board Member of Cultural Tourism DC, celebrating the unique heritage and history of the U.S. Capital.

The post The Future of U.S.-EU Trade and Investment appeared first on WITA.

On September 13, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new measures related to de minimis shipments to the United States, including from online marketplaces. Panelists discussed the White House proposals, its use of executive authorities to address this issue, and proposed legislation.

Featured Speakers:

Ralph Carter, Staff Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, FedEx

Kim Glas, President & CEO, National Council of Textile Organizations; Commissioner, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission 

Melissa Irmen, Director of Advocacy, NAFTZ-National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones

John Pickel, Senior Director, International Supply Chain Policy, National Foreign Trade Council

Felicia Pullam, Executive Director, Office of Trade Relations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Moderator: Ana Swanson, Trade and International Economics Reporter, The New York Times

Speaker Biographies:

Ralph Carter is Staff Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at FedEx. Mr. Carter leads a team of regulatory attorneys responsible for compliance and policy advocacy at FedEx.  Areas of responsibility include aviation law, security, customs, export controls, workplace safety and trade policy.  Mr. Carter also coordinates global regulatory and trade policy across all FedEx international regions. Mr. Carter’s team advocates for simpler, more open trade rules that reduce barriers and help FedEx customers expand their international business. Mr. Carter is a frequent speaker and contributor to international trade and economic policy organizations including APEC, the WTO, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.  Mr. Carter has also served as Managing Director in the legal department of FedEx’s Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Brussels Belgium.  Prior to FedEx, Mr. Carter served in the State Department as Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.

Kim Glas is the President & CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations; and Commissioner of theU.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission 

Commissioner Kimberly Glas was reappointed by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer for a term expiring December 31, 2024. She served as Vice Chair of the Commission for the 2022 report cycle.

Commissioner Glas joined the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) in May 2019 as President and CEO representing domestic manufacturers of textiles and apparel.

She has over two decades experience in government and policy advocacy focused on economics, trade, and manufacturing.

She served as Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a non-profit partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations. In that capacity, she led an organization that works to advance policies to help achieve a stronger economy and a more sustainable future at the intersection of energy, the environment, and trade.

Before leading the BlueGreen Alliance, Commissioner Glas served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Materials at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, she worked to improve the domestic and international competitiveness of the broad product range of U.S. industries. 

Commissioner Glas served for a decade on Capitol Hill working extensively on manufacturing, trade, and economic policy issues for Congressman Michael H. Michaud from Maine and Congressman John J. LaFalce from New York. As Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congressman Michaud, she led efforts to establish the House Trade Working Group, a key coalition of Members of Congress that works extensively on trade policy and domestic competitiveness issues to this day.

Ms. Glas earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Melissa Irmen is Director of Advocacy & Strategic Relations and joined the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) to execute the association’s advocacy vision plan, sponsorship development, specialized membership initiatives, and other program management. Melissa plays a pivotal role in building strategic partnerships and enhancing the membership experience while driving impactful change within the FTZ community.

Melissa has over 20 years of experience in the Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) industry, most recently as Senior Vice President at ISCM, Inc., a Washington, DC based consulting firm helping companies with FTZ applications, setup, technology, and regulatory agency insight. Melissa is an Accredited Zone Specialist and served as Chair on the Board of Directors for the NAFTZ. Melissa is an active participant in various international trade initiatives and organizations and speaks regularly on global trade topics. She provides technology and trade expertise to many CBP working groups, including, most recently, one focused on utilizing Emerging Technologies.

John Pickel is Senior Director of International Supply Chain Policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, the leading business association dedicated solely to advancing the interests of U.S. companies in international commerce.

In this role, John sets strategic direction and executes efforts to promote efficient, resilient and stable supply chains. This includes advancing policies related to anticounterfeiting, product safety, environmental sustainability, human and labor rights, and preventing illicit trade. He also promotes the implementation of trade facilitation measures and customs best practices across government agencies and international organizations to increase predictability and enable compliance with U.S. trade laws.

John previously served as the Principal Director of Trade and Economic Competitiveness in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (Policy), where he was a primary trade and supply chain policy advisor to agency leadership, served as the DHS representative to various interagency groups and processes, and led implementation of trade-related initiatives across DHS components.

Prior to joining DHS Policy, John served in various roles at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over a decade. More recently, he was the Counsellor to the Commissioner for trade facilitation and enforcement matters. In addition to advising CBP executives on trade policy issues, John led engagement with senior administration officials, the trade community, and others to inform the development and implementation of CBP trade priorities. Earlier, John coordinated CBP Congressional Affairs efforts related to trade policy. In this role, he worked closely with Members of Congress and senior staff to shape legislation including the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) and Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act.

John has represented companies, nonprofit organizations, and cities before Congress and federal agencies at a government relations firm and worked in a leadership office in the U.S. House of Representatives.

John is a graduate of The George Washington University (B.A., Political Science).

Felicia Pullam is the Executive Director, in the Office of Trade Relations (OTR). 

Prior to joining CBP, Ms. Pullam served as the Director of Strategy for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Baltimore.  She has worked on trade issues from both the state and federal perspective: she served at the Delaware Department of State, the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. During the Obama Administration, Ms. Pullam helped steer SelectUSA, a presidential initiative housed within Commerce, during a high-pressure start-up phase to promote the United States as the leading global destination for foreign direct investment. Ms. Pullam was then appointed to be Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Materials, where she managed three offices to analyze and implement trade policy covering a large swath of the global economy.

Prior to her government service, Ms. Pullam spent nearly a decade in China. She led the Asia regional corporate responsibility and sustainability practice for APCO Worldwide, assisting American companies on stakeholder engagement and a range of supply chain challenges. She began her career in Guangzhou through the Princeton in Asia program, followed by a yearlong adventure as tutor and translator for actress Zhang Ziyi.

Ana Swanson is a domestic correspondent at The New York Times. She writes about trade and international economics. She previously covered the economy, trade and the Federal Reserve for The Washington Post.

Before that, Ana was an editor of Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and the editor-in-chief of China Economic Review magazine in Shanghai.

She has a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from Northwestern University and a master’s in international relations with a focus in China and international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Before moving to Washington, D.C., she lived and worked in China for eight years.

The post Regulating and Reforming De Minimis appeared first on WITA.

On July 10, WITA discussed the prospects for renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences – a critical program for the U.S. in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, southeastern Europe, South America, and the Pacific Islands – which lapsed in 2020; as well as AGOA, and HOPE/HELP for Haiti, which both expire in 2025.

Featured Speakers:  

Fernando Capellán, President and CEO, Grupo M & Codevi

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

Beth Hughes, Vice President, Trade and Customs Policy, American Apparel & Footwear Association

Olawunmi Osholake, Deputy Managing Director, Global Shea Alliance

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

Speaker Biographies:

Fernando Anibal Capellan is President and CEO of Grupo M & Codevi. He was born in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic on February 9th, 1959. His business career began in the 1980s, when he founded Grupo M while studying industrial engineering. A textile firm, Grupo M introduced advanced production technologies, efficient manufacturing systems, modern human resource management, and a commitment to employees and the community that saw it become a standard of the Dominican textile industry.

Mr. Capellan became one of the first investors in Haiti, where he installed the industrial park, Codevi, in order to operate textile factories. In addition to his business operations, Mr. Capellan works with government entities, both national and international, to help develop inclusive rules and agreements that benefit the textile sector. He has served as president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones and the Free Zone Industries Association of Santiago, and currently serves on the executive committee of the National Council of Private Enterprise, the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic, the Cibao International Airport, and the Metropolitan Hospital of Santiago.

Ed Gresser is Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at the Progressive Policy Institute.

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.

Beth Hughes is the Vice President of Trade and Customs Policy at American Apparel and Footwear Association. She is responsible for supporting the association’s efforts on international trade and customs issues. Beth oversees AAFA’s Trade Policy Committee, as well as AAFA’s Customs Group. Before joining AAFA, Beth served for six years as senior director, international affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association. Beth earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at George Washington University and received a Master of Arts in international affairs from Florida State University.

Olawunmi Osholake is the Deputy Managing Director of the Global Shea Alliance. Wunmi drives the development and growth of the Alliance in areas of sustainability, promotion, finance and administration. Specifically, she oversees the implementation of the GSA’s (Global Shea Alliance) sustainability program, develops and maintains relationships with international stakeholders, and manages GSA’s (Global Shea Alliance) external communications.

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 Trade & Development – Renewing AGOA, GSP and HOPE/HELP for Haiti appeared first on WITA.

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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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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On October 7, 2022 the United States Department of Commerce announced new export controls on advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing items to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These new rules will restrict the PRC’s ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors.

According to the Commerce Department, the goal of the new rules is to “protect [U.S.] national security and prevent sensitive technologies with military applications from being acquired by the People’s Republic of China’s military, intelligence, and security services.” Panelists joined WITA to discuss the impact of the new U.S. rules, and what they mean for the future of global semiconductor trade and U.S.-China relations. 

Featured Speakers:

Melissa Duffy, Partner, Fenwick & West LLP

Jimmy Goodrich, Vice President of Global Policy, Semiconductor Industry Association

Paul Triolo, Senior Vice President for China and Technology Policy Lead, Albright Stonebridge Group and Denton’s Global Advisors

Moderator: Paula Stern, Ph.D., President, The Stern Group, and former Chair of the U.S. International Trade Commission; author of Water’s Edge: Politics and the Making of American Foreign Policy

Speaker Biographies

Melissa Duffy

Melissa Duffy is a Partner at Fenwich & West LLP. Her practice is on a broad range of international trade matters, including export controls, OFAC sanctions, regulation of emerging technologies, digital trade, CFIUS, tariffs and national security issues involving several U.S. agencies, both civil and criminal. She advises multinational companies across a wide range of sectors, including technology, financial, manufacturing, consumer goods, and energy. Melissa counsels clients on day-to-day compliance operations, and she advocates daily before the U.S. government, in coordinating meetings for clients with regulators, drafting requests for regulatory guidance, preparing export and sanctions license requests, advising on rulemakings, preparing commodity classification and jurisdiction requests, counseling on tariff strategies, and investigating and preparing complex voluntary disclosures.

Melissa began her legal career in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of the General Counsel, where she discovered her enthusiasm for talking with engineers. She has since developed extensive experience across the technology sector, having built deep relationships with clients in the cybersecurity and encryption, software, autonomous vehicle, sensor and artificial intelligence, gaming, computer, telecom, satellite, semiconductor and network infrastructure industries.

Melissa is highly regarded in her area of practice, presenting and publishing regularly on international trade and technology regulations. She has been ranked as “Up and Coming” by Chambers USA (2021) and is described as having “a very good technical understanding of the regulations.” She is also consistently recognized by The Legal 500 and was appointed to Law360’s International Trade Editorial Advisory Board. Melissa was recognized as one of Washington DC’s leading female attorneys by DCA Live’s Emerging Women Leaders in Law (2022). She was also recently appointed to the U.S. Department of State’s International Digital Economy and Telecommunication (IDET) Advisory Committee where she advises and provides strategic planning recommendations on digital economy, digital connectivity, economic aspects of emerging digital technologies, telecommunications and communication and information policy matters. She has given presentations at numerous conferences and webinars held by the International Bar Association, the American Conference Institute, Bloomberg, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and a Silicon Valley private equity general counsel forum. Melissa has given live interviews for BBC World News and the Associated Press and has been quoted several times in the Washington Post and other mainstream media outlets, provided commentary for Law360 and the Global Investigations Review, and is on the board and a frequent contributor to World Export Compliance Review (WorldECR).

Melisa also has done significant work on pro bono matters, focusing on the representation of arts organizations and other nonprofit entities in Washington, D.C.

Jimmy Goodrich

Jimmy Goodrich is the Vice President of Global Policy at Semiconductor Industry Association. He joined SIA in 2015 and is vice president for global policy. In this role, Jimmy leads SIA’s global policy team and directs SIA’s international competitiveness, trade, export control, supply chain, global market research, and China policy agenda.

Jimmy has a diverse background in international technology trade, supply-chain, and security issues spanning a wide range of geographies. Previously he was director of China policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) in Washington D.C. Before moving to Washington D.C. in 2012, Jimmy spent a total of seven years working in the tech sector in China, including for Cisco Systems, APCO Worldwide, and USITO.

Jimmy has a bachelor’s degree in comparative politics and East Asian studies from Ohio University. He is professionally fluent in Mandarin and serves on the Executive Committee for Beijing-based United States Information Technology Office (USITO), representing SIA in his capacity and on the Board of Directors of the American Mandarin Society, which promotes mandarin-language study for young Americans.

Paul Triolo

Paul Triolo is the Senior Vice President for China and Technology Policy lead at Albright Stonebridge Group and Denton’s Global Advisors. He advises clients in technology, financial services, and other sectors as they navigate complex political and regulatory matters in China and around the world.

A recognized expert in global technology policy, Mr. Triolo was most recently founder, Practice Head, and Managing Director of the Geo-Technology practice at Eurasia Group. Previously, Mr. Triolo spent more than 25 years in senior positions in the U.S. government, analyzing China’s rise as a technology power and advising senior policymakers on a broad set of technology-related issues. At the beginning of his career, he worked as an engineer for a semiconductor testing firm in Silicon Valley.

Mr. Triolo is frequently quoted on technology policy issues in media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the South China Morning Post, and others. He speaks regularly at conferences and has authored many journal articles and book chapters on global technology policy and China-related issues. He also serves as a Senior Advisor at the Paulson Institute and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He received an M.A. in International Relations from the Catholic University and a B.A. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University.

He is based in Washington, D.C.

Paula Stern

Paula Stern, Ph.D., is President of The Stern Group, and former Chair of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Dr. Stern also serves as Senior Strategic Advisor to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

She is a member of the board of directors of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, Legacy Trustee at the Committee for Economic Development (CED), Lifetime Director of the Atlantic Council, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Inter-American Dialogue. Dr. Stern formerly served on the public Board of Directors of CBS, Infinity, Duracell, Harcourt General, Hasbro, Scott Paper, Walmart, Westinghouse, Avaya, SSMC, the Neiman Marcus Group, and Avon, as well as a member of the International Advisory Board of LafargeHolcim.

Dr. Stern’s past public service also includes serving on the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations; co-chairing the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee for the Attorney General and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division; chairing the Advisory Committee of the U.S. Export-Import Bank; and being a Presidentially appointed/Senate confirmed Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. She also was a Member of the US Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and Member of the US Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

Dr. Stern began her Washington career as Senior Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson . She was a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, where she wrote a definitive book on Congressional-Executive foreign policy making, titled Water’s Edge: Domestic Politics and the Making of American Foreign Policy. She also served as Senior International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and member of The Trilateral Commission. Dr. Stern also held the Alkire Chair in International Business at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Dr. Stern has a B.A. from Goucher College, an M.A. in Regional Studies from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in International Affairs from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and honorary degrees in Law from Goucher College and Commercial Science from Babson College. She is a recipient of the Alicia Patterson Journalism Award and the Joseph Papp Award for Racial Harmony from the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. She has two children and four grandchildren.

The post No Chips for You! America’s New Export Controls on Semiconductors and Their Implications for Global Trade appeared first on WITA.

With passage of the Chips and Science Act and the budget reconciliation bill, the U.S. will be spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the years to come to encourage investment in chip manufacturing and environmental technologies. The bills also provide billions more to fund scientific research and development, and to spur the innovation and development of other U.S. technologies. 

Panelists will discuss what this new spending means for the U.S. jobs, exports, and international trade policy, and how these bills position the U.S. relative to China and in relation to its allies and partners. 

Featured Speakers:

Edward Alden, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations and Ross Distinguished Visiting Professor, Western Washington University; Author of the article, “Free Trade Is Dead. Risky ‘Managed Trade’ Is Here”

Robert D. Atkinson, Ph.D., President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Emily Kilcrease, Senior Fellow and Director, Energy, Economics and Security Program, Center for a New American Security

Christine McDaniel, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Non-Resident Fellow at the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Speaker Biographies:

Edward Alden

Robert D. Atkinson

Robert D. Atkinson is the President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

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.

Emily Kilcrease

The post WITA Webinar: U.S. Industrial Policy, Subsidies, and Trade appeared first on WITA.

The U.S. recently passed the CHIPS Act, in part a response to China’s own 2025 Plan.  On Friday, September 16, 2022, WITA hosted a webinar to discuss Chinese industrial policy.  This webinar will be part one of a two-part mini-series looking at international trade and competition for the “future” economy.

Featured Speakers:

Anna Ashton, Director, China Corporate Affairs and U.S.-China, Eurasia Group

Michael Beckley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Tufts University.  Author of the new book: Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China

Gerard DiPippo, Senior Fellow, Economics Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Clete Willems, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Speaker Biographies:

Anna Ashton

Anna Ashton is the Director of China Corporate Affairs and U.S.-China at the Eurasia Group. In her most recent previous role, she served as Senior Fellow for Trade, Investment, and Innovation at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Prior to joining ASPI, Anna was vice president of government affairs for the US-China Business Council, developing and implementing advocacy on behalf of member companies and representing the Council in engagements with the policy community and the public. She also directed the Council’s business advisory services work from 2016 to 2019.

Anna began her career as an intelligence officer for the Department of Defense, analyzing and briefing officials on strategic China issues. She later worked for her home state of Arkansas to develop a strategy for recruiting Chinese investment. In addition, she spent several years working on trade and investment issues for the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Anna regularly speaks at programs for business and policy audiences and she has appeared in a range of broadcast and print media. She holds a JD from Georgetown Law, an MA in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a BA 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.

Michael Beckley

Michael Beckley is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University and a Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.  

His research on great power competition has received awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association and has been featured by numerous media including the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, NPR, and the Washington Post.  

Previously, Michael worked for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the U.S. Department of Defense, the RAND Corporation, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He continues to advise offices within the U.S. Intelligence Community and the U.S. Department of Defense.

​Michael holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. His first book, Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower, was published in 2018 by Cornell University Press.

Gerard DiPippo

Gerard DiPippo is a senior fellow with the Economics Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He joined CSIS after nearly 11 years in the U.S. intelligence community (IC). From 2018 to 2021, DiPippo was a deputy national intelligence officer for economic issues at the National Intelligence Council, where he led the IC’s economic analysis of East Asia. He also was a senior economic analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, focused on East Asia, South Asia, and global economic issues. DiPippo holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy from Dartmouth College.

Clete Willems

Clete Willems is a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. 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 of 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.

The post WITA Webinar: Made in China 2025 and Chinese Industrial Policy appeared first on WITA.

The U.S. – Colombia Free Trade Agreement entered into force on May 15, 2012. On May 10, 2022, in partnership with the Embassy and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, WITA held an event featuring a distinguished group of speakers to look back at the last 10 years of U.S.- Colombia trade and relations, and to look forward to the future of the relationship between the U.S. and this important trading partner. 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Arrow Augerot

Arrow Augerot is the Director of Americas Public Policy at Amazon where she leads a team that advocates on a broad range of international economic issues with the US Government and public policy issues facing Amazon in Canada and Latin America. Prior to joining Amazon, Arrow served as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs (Acting), where she managed USTR’s outreach to Congress and served as the primary point of contact for Members of Congress and their staffs on a variety of issues, most notably the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Before serving in the Office of Congressional Affairs, Arrow was the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for APEC Affairs & Localization Barriers to Trade from 2008 to 2013. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing and implementing U.S. trade policy in APEC, and advanced work on digital trade and supply chain facilitation issues. She also led an interagency task force to develop and execute a more strategic and coordinated global approach to addressing localization barriers to trade. Also at USTR, Arrow served as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Korea (2006-2008) and as the Director for Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce Trade Policy (2004-2006). Prior to joining USTR, Arrow held a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce, including senior analyst in the Office of Technology and Electronic Commerce and special assistant to the Under Secretary of International Trade. Arrow received her M.A. in Foreign Affairs/International Political Economy from the University of Virginia and her B.A. in Political Science from The Colorado College. She resides in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.

Jorge Enrique Bedoya

Jorge Enrique Bedoya is the President at the Colombian Farmers Society. He is the former Deputy Minister of Defense for Policy and International Affairs; Former Director of Sustainable  Development and Bavaria Foundation and Former President of Colombian Poultry and Egg Producers Federation (FENAVI). He has a Master of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Kevin Brady

U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady is a pro-family, pro-small business conservative who proudly represents the Eighth Congressional District of Texas. 

Widely recognized as a national economic leader, Kevin is only the third Texan in history to chair the powerful House Ways & Means Committee – considered to be the most influential committee in Congress – with control over taxes, international trade, health care, Medicare, Social Security and welfare. 

As Chairman, he led a historic reform of America’s tax code, the first in 30 years. These tax cuts for families and local businesses restored America to the most competitive economy in the world, leading to millions of new jobs, the highest household income and lowest poverty rate in half a century, and a return of U.S. jobs and investment from overseas. 

A champion of free enterprise and American-made energy, Kevin’s first achievement as Chairman was successfully negotiating on behalf of Speaker Paul Ryan for an end to the 40-year ban on selling U.S. crude oil overseas, leading to American energy independence.

His successful initiatives also include the first reform of the IRS in two decades, passage of President Trump’s US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), sweeping reform of Americas’ retirement system in the form of The Family Savings Act, a historic national ban on surprise medical bills, elimination of the ObamaCare individual mandate and the three largest ACA taxes, and making the Research & Development tax credit permanent to ensure research into key medical breakthroughs and technologies occur here in  America rather than in foreign countries. 

He is a recognized national leader in free trade, and while Chairman of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, he helped secure approval of trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. In Congress, he has helped successfully secure passage of 13 of America’s 15 free trade agreements, including the USMCA. He was the White House point man for the Central American trade agreement, and in 2016 authored the first successful major reform of trade rules since 9/11 to speed-up secure, legal trade of products across U.S. borders. 

Kevin served as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation and as a member of the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate. He has chaired both the Health Care and Trade Subcommittees of Ways and Means. Prior to his election to Congress, Kevin worked as a Chamber of Commerce executive for 18 years and served six years in the Texas House of Representatives, where he was named Top Ten Legislator for Families & Children and one of Five Outstanding Young Texans. Kevin is a Distinguished Alumni of the University of South Dakota. 

Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno

The Honorable Juan Carlos Pinzón is the Ambassador of Colombia to the United States. Most recently, Pinzón served as Minister of Defense of Colombia for nearly four years. Under his leadership, the armed forces dealt the most severe blows to terrorist organizations and criminal bands, highly degrading their capabilities, structure, and leadership. This resulted in improved security conditions throughout the country and the lowest homicide rate in 35 years. During his tenure, the armed forces’ equipment and training was modernized, the welfare of soldiers and their families was improved, and a transformation plan for the next 20 years was designed. Colombia also became an exporter of security expertise, aiding over 60 nations. Prior to serving as Defense Minister, Pinzón was Chief of Staff to President Juan Manuel Santos (2010–2011) and Vice Minister of Defense (2006-2009). In 2011 the World Economic Forum selected him as a Young Global Leader. He has also served as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of the World Bank, Vice President of the Colombian Banking Association, Assistant Vice President of Investment Banking at Citibank, Private Secretary and Chief of Staff for the Ministry of Finance, and Economist for Colombia at Citigroup. Pinzón taught economics at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and the Universidad de Los Andes. A native of Bogotá, Pinzón received an honorable mention for his outstanding academic performance while earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He holds a Master of Science in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, and was awarded a scholarship to receive his Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Pinzón also completed advanced courses in international relations and strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University, and in science and technology at Harvard University. 

Everett Eissenstat

Everett Eissenstat serves as the Chair for US and Canada and Global Trade Lead for EGA where he leads a team of policy, political and technical experts to provide business, NGO’s and thought leaders with integrated strategies and counsel on regulatory issues and policymaking including in the areas of automotive, financial services, food and beverage, health, manufacturing, retail, and technology. In addition, He also leads EGA’s Global Trade practice in advising clients seeking to leverage government policies, international institutions, and geopolitical dynamics to achieve their strategic international economic and trade objectives. 

He most recently served as the head of Global Public Policy at General Motors where he was a key advisor to the CEO and led a team of government relations professionals. Prior to joining GM, Everett served as Deputy Assistant to the President for International and 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. Everett coordinated interagency policy development and implementation on international economic policy matters. He also served as the President’s personal representative and principal negotiator to the G-7 and G-20 economic summits and led interagency preparations for all international summits, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the Summit of the Americas, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC).

Previously Everett held key roles in the House, Senate, and the Office of the US Trade Representative. As Chief International Trade Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee (2011-2017 and 2001-2006), he built and led professional international trade policy teams for two chairmen and negotiated and gained the approval of legislation implementing bilateral trade agreements with Korea, Panama, and Colombia 

As Assistant US Trade Representative for the Americas (2006-2011), he led negotiations of comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and Peru, as well as the Dominican Republic. He also served as Legislative Director for Rep. Jim Kolbe. He holds a JD, cum laude, from the University of Oklahoma, an MA in Latin American Studies from University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Political Science and Spanish from Oklahoma State University. 

Hernando José Gómez

Hernando Jose Gomez is the President of Colombia’s Banks Association. He is the former Chief Negotiator of the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the U.S., Former Director of National Planning Agency and Co-director of the Colombian National Bank. MA and MPhil in Economics; PhD candidate, Yale University. 

Gonzalo Moreno Gómez

Gonzalo Moreno Gomez is the Executive President of the National Poultry Federation of Colombia. He is the prior Secretary General of the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters. Specialist in Commercial Law and Tax Law; Masters in Private Law of the Universidad de los Andes. 

María Ximena Lombana

María Ximena Lombana is Colombia’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism. She became a lawyer from the Universidad del Rosario, with a master’s degree in International Business Law from the Washington College of Law, which in turn belongs to the American University, and a master’s degree in Commercial Law from the University of Paris II- Panthéon-Assas.

Likewise, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism was a professor of Commercial Company Law at the universities of Rosario and La Sabana for 10 years. She has worked as manager of strengthening programs in the National Agency for Legal Defense of the State and also in the Attorney General’s Office.She held the positions of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Colombian embassies in Spain (2014-2015) and France (2003-2005), as well as First Secretary at the Colombian Mission to the United Nations (1998-1999).

She was also Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior for two years and Bancóldex for three years. Her activities in the private sector include her participation as a partner in the law firms Cremades & Calvo Sotelo and Lombana Villalba Abogados.

Additionally, she has been an Arbitrator of the Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (Commercial Law and Administrative Law), since January 2006. Added to this is her management as a researcher of the Legal Department of the Organization of American States (OEA ) and as an advisor to the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Mack McLarty 

Thomas McLarty is the Chairman of McLarty Associates. He co-founded McLarty Associates in 1998 following a distinguished record of business leadership and public service, including various roles advising three US Presidents: Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter. Mr. McLarty is also Chairman of the McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation family transportation business.

As President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty helped enact the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Family and Medical Leave law, and the landmark welfare reform legislation that enabled more than 6.8 million people to move from welfare to work. He also organized the successful 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami, which ultimately led to his appointment as Special Envoy for the Americas in 1997.

As Counselor to President Clinton, Mr. McLarty advised on a broad range of international and domestic issues. He traveled to the Persian Gulf on the president’s behalf to build financial support for the Bosnian peace process, led the US delegation to the inauguration of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and signed the peace accords that brought peace to Guatemala for the first time in three decades. Mr. McLarty planned US participation in the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Santiago, and participated in several G-7 and APEC Summits.

Prior to his government service, Mr. McLarty was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. During his tenure Arkla grew into the nation’s largest natural gas distributor, with customers in eleven states and significant exploration and pipeline operations. Mr. McLarty was appointed by President Bush to the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Environmental Quality, and he was a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board from 1989 through 1992. Mr. McLarty is a frequent public speaker, and has published numerous articles on US trade and foreign policy. He has served on the boards of many corporate and non-profit institutions including as a Director of Union Pacific and the Acxiom Corporation, and on the boards of the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, the Council of the Americas, the InterAmerican Dialogue, Ford’s Theatre, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency. In addition, he serves as a Senior International Fellow at the US Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. McLarty is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal; the highest civilian honors of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela; and the Center for the Study of the Presidency Distinguished Service Award. Mr. McLarty is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Arkansas.

Representative Gregory Meeks

Representative Gregory Meeks is the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Meeks is the first black Member of Congress to serve as Chair of that committee. Meeks is a multilateralist with decades of experience in foreign policy. He believes that the United States should build coalitions around our interests and work with other countries to build a stable and prosperous future.

He is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, where he served as the Chairmen of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions which oversees all financial regulators such as, FDIC, Federal Reserve and all matters pertaining to consumer credit and the stability of the banking system. Rep. Meeks previously served as a Dodd-Frank conferee. Key provisions in the Wall Street reform law – including its stress testing requirement, the creation of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the financial regulatory agencies, and the requirement that U.S. public companies who use natural resources to report their due diligence in stamping out conflict minerals– were co-authored by Congressman Meeks and remain in the law today. Rep. Meeks introduced a bill that would require government contractors and public companies to submit data on the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of their corporate boards.

Fabrizio Opertti

Fabrizio Opertti is the Manager of the Integration and Trade Sector at Inter-American Development Bank. Mr. Opertti coordinates the sector’s operational program and technical assistance, the support to regional initiatives, policy research agenda and capacity building programs, as well as several public-private policy dialogues and inter-institutional partnerships with international trade and multilateral agencies, with the goal of promoting trade and investment, economic integration and regional cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Prior to his appointment, he led the Trade and Investment Division (TIN) between 2011 and 2018, where he led the Bank’s support to LAC countries in trade facilitation – including border coordinated management, trade logistics and single electronic windows for trade – as well as goods and services export promotion and international investment attraction operations. Mr. Opertti also led an IDB Group-wide team in the design and implementation of ConnectAmericas, the first social network for business in the region designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carry out more and better international trade and investment transactions. It was launched in March 2014 and currently has over 370,000 business people registered from over 209 countries and territories.

During his 20-year tenure at the Bank, Mr. Opertti has also led the creation and organization of several key IDB’s pan-regional trade events, including the CEO Summit of the Americas (Colombia 2012, Panama 2015, Peru 2018), the Global Services-Outsource2LAC Business Forum (Uruguay 2011, Colombia 2012, Argentina 2013, Guatemala 2014, Mexico 2015, Costa Rica 2017, Argentina 2019 and the virtual version of the forum – O2LAC Virtual 2020), the Asia-LAC Fora (Korea 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019; China 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018; Japan 2013 and 2016), among others.

Mr. Opertti holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins’ School of Business, a master’s in science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy from American University.

Marta Lucía Ramírez

Marta Lucía Ramírez is the Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia. She is a former senator, former minister of defense and foreign trade, and past presidential candidate. 

Elected Senator of Colombia in 2006, Ramírez introduced legislative initiatives to permit women to attain the rank of General in the Military Forces of Colombia, and to mandate English teaching in schools. Ramírez was Colombia’s first female Minister of National Defence, serving from 2002 to 2003 in the administration of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and the second woman in Latin America to hold this title. She has also served as the 6th Minister of Foreign Trade of Colombia, from 1998 to 2002.

In 2009 she resigned from the Senate to run as a candidate for the 2010 Conservative Party’s presidential nomination, finishing third to the eventual Conservative nominee Noemí Sanín Posada. In 2014, she once again ran for the Conservative nomination, this time winning the nomination, but ultimately finishing third in the first round of the 2014 presidential election. Ramirez is also a member of Washington D.C. based think tank, The Inter-American Dialogue. In 2018, Ramírez became the first woman elected to serve as Vice President of Colombia, running on a ticket with Iván Duque Márquez.

Kenneth Smith Ramos

Kenneth Ramos is International Expert in Trade Agreements at AGON. Ken 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).

Luis Fernando Restrepo

Luis Fernando Restrepo is the CEO of Crystal S.A.S., a company dedicated to the production and commercialization in Latin America of brands such as Gef, Punto Blanco, Baby Fresh y Galax. With an MBA degree from University of Chicago, he has served as Independent Director of Bancolombia S.A. during 2016. He previously worked at The Marmon Group of Chicago and was part of the Leadership Rotational Program in Chicago at The Rego Company in planning production and Hammond Organ Company in financial accountability.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is a Senior Advisor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Previously, she served for almost three decades as a member of Congress representing diverse areas in South Florida.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen was the Chairwoman emeritus of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In these roles, she led on pressing foreign policy issues, including championing the advancement of freedom and democracy for all, fighting Islamist extremism; supporting free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea; and imposing sanctions on human rights violators in Venezuela.

Prior to becoming the Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen served as Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia; International Operations and Human Rights; International Economic Policy and Trade; and Africa; and as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen also served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the CIA Subcommittee and the National Security Agency and Cybersecurity Subcommittee.

A strong proponent of education, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen holds multiple education degrees, including an Ed.D. from the University of Miami, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Florida International University. She began her career as a Florida certified teacher, and then founded, and served as the principal of, a private bilingual elementary school.

Falvia Santoro

Falvia Santoro is the President of Procolombia and a Lawyer. She has extensive experience in developing and managing institutional relationships with the private sector, strengthening strategic and commercial alliances for fundraising. Her professional experience spans several sectors, from information services consulting, sales in the insurance sector, non-profit institutions, and two presidential campaigns with important achievements in each of them.

Augusto Solano

Augusto Solano is the President of the Association of Flowers Exporters (Asocolflores) He has wide managerial experience in trade associations, agribusiness, banking and government. Member of the Board of Directors of several trade associations, universities and banks in Colombia, and floriculture organizations in the United States and Europe.He completed his MBA studies in The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Jim Sutter

Jim Sutter is the CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). He grew up on a crop and cattle farm in northeastern Colorado and received a degree in agricultural business / economics from Colorado State University. Jim joined USSEC as CEO in 2010 after over 30 years of industry experience with Cargill, Inc. Since joining USSEC, he has led strategy development to ensure that the organization’s key focus is on differentiating and building a preference for U.S. Soy while also ensuring market access. Jim is active working with various industry associations around the world on behalf of U.S. Soy.

Arun Venkataraman

Arun Venkataraman is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. He was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2022, to lead the federal government’s efforts to promote exports abroad and attract inward investment. He was officially sworn in on April 25, 2022.

Venkataraman has over 20 years of experience advising companies, international organizations and the U.S. government on international trade issues. Most recently, he served as Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce, advising the Department on trade and other international economic matters. Before joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Arun was a Senior Director at Visa, leading global government engagement strategy on a range of international policy issues including digital economy, trade, tax and sanctions. He also served as Trade & Investment Policy Advisor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he counseled multinational firms and other organizations on e-commerce, intellectual property rights and U.S. and foreign trade policies.

During the Obama Administration, Venkataraman served as ITA’s first-ever Director of Policy, where he helped shape the U.S. government’s responses to critical challenges faced by firms in the U.S. and in markets around the world, including China and India. He also served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) where he led the development and implementation of U.S.-India trade policy, for which he received the agency’s Kelly Award for outstanding performance and extraordinary leadership. He also served as USTR’s Associate General Counsel, representing the United States in litigation before the World Trade Organization and in negotiations on international trade agreements. Prior to USTR, Arun was a Legal Officer at the World Trade Organization, and served as Law Clerk for Judge Jane A. Restani at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Born in Coimbatore, India, and raised in Houston, Venkataraman holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a B.A. from Tufts University.

Davis Warlick

Davis Warlick is the Chairman and CEO of Parkdale Mills, Inc. Since 1916, Parkdale has strived to be the premier yarn spinner in the world. The company’s vision for the future revolves around a perpetually changing supply chain that demands faster response, superior service, and enhanced speed to market. 

The Parkdale family of companies also includes US Cotton, a leading health and beauty aide cotton products company, as well as Parkdale Advanced Materials which makes biodegradable polymers.

Andy holds a business degree from The Citadel. He also is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Management Development Program and the National Cotton Council’s Leadership Program. Andy serves on several boards including the National Council of Textile Organizations, National Cotton Council, and Schweitzer-Mauduit. Andy has been inducted into the Citadel Business School Hall of Fame. He has won numerous awards including the Cotton, Inc. 2002 Achievement Award; Honorary Doctor of Business – The Citadel; and Man of the Year – US Textiles 2002.

Andy is committed to rebuilding US manufacturing and fighting trade cheating. He resides in North Carolina with his wife Pamela where they raised 2 children.

Maria Zieba

Maria Zieba is the Assistant Vice President of International Affairs at the National Pork Producer Council (NPPC). She works on NPPC’s trade policy program focusing on opening, maintaining, and increasing market access for U.S. pork. 

Prior to joining NPPC, Maria was a trade policy manager for the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where she worked on various trade issues affecting the dairy industry. Previously, 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. 

Maria serves as a Cleared Advisor on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Animals and Animal Products, providing input to USDA and USTR on key issues affecting U.S. pork exports. She also serves on the board of directors for the Association of Women in International Trade and Farmers for Free Trade. 

Maria holds a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University.  She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside with a double major in Political Science-International Affairs and Spanish.

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On Tuesday, March 15, WITA held a webinar looking at the past, present and future of US-Korea trade relations, on the 10th anniversary of the entry-into-force of the U.S. Korea FTA on March 15, 2012.

Featured Speakers: 

South Korea’s Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo

Ambassador Mark Lippert, the former United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

Nigel Cory, Associate Director, Trade Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Maria C. Zieba, Assistant Vice President, International Affairs, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)

Clete Willems, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Affairs

Moderator: Deanna Tanner Okun, Managing Partner, AMS Trade LLP; former Chair of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC)

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Yeo Han-koo currently serves as South Korea’s Minister for Trade and is a veteran trade negotiator who has been involved in many of South Korea’s trade negotiations over the last two decades.

Prior to becoming Minister for Trade, Yeo served as a presidential secretary in the Blue House for President Moon Jae-in’s signature New Southern Policy and New Northern Policy. He also has extensive experience in the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy where he was appointed to multiple directorships over the past 25 years. Minister Yeo has also worked on climate issues, acting as the World Bank Group’s Senior Investment Policy Officer in the Investment Climate Department between 2010 and 2014.

While serving as the Director of the International Economic & Industrial Policy Bureau for the National Economic Advisory Council in the Presidential Office, Yeo also lectured at the KDI School of Public Policy in South Korea. He has also published multiple works in both English and Korean, including a Harvard Business School case study about the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and a chapter in the World Bank’s “Special Economic Zones.” Yeo has been awarded the International Finance Corporation Performance Award and an Achievement Award from the President of the Republic of Korea, along with many other accolades.

He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Business Administration from Seoul National University.

Ambassador Mark Lippert is a Senior Advisor and the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has had a distinguished career in the United States government that spanned approximately two decades and included series of senior-level positions across multiple agencies. From 2014-2017, he served as the United States ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Korea, based in Seoul. He previously held positions in the Department of Defense, including as chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (2013-2014) and as assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (2012-2013), the top official in the Pentagon for all Asia issues. Lippert also worked in the White House as chief of staff to the National Security Council in 2009. Lippert served in the uniformed military. An intelligence officer in the United States Navy, he mobilized to active duty from 2009 to 2011 for service with Naval Special Warfare (SEALs) Development Group that included deployments to Afghanistan and other regions. From 2007 to 2008, he deployed as an intelligence officer with Seal Team One to Anbar Province, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Earlier in his career, Lippert served as a staff member in the United States Senate, where he worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for then-Senator Obama; the Senate Appropriations Committee State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee for Senator Leahy, and for other members of the Senate. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Basic Parachutist Badge. He is also the recipient of the Department of Defense’s Distinguished Public Service Award and the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a B.A. in political science and holds an M.A. in international policy studies from the same institution. He speaks Korean and also studied Mandarin Chinese at Beijing University. Lippert is married to Robyn E. Lippert who serves as a senior vice president at UnitedHealth Group and has two children, Sejun and Sahee. They live in Washington, D.C. with their basset hound, Grigsby.

Nigel Cory is an associate director covering trade policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. He focuses on cross-border data flows, data governance, intellectual property, and how they each relate to digital trade and the broader digital economy. Cory has provided in-person testimony and written submissions and has published reports and op-eds relating to these issues in the United States, the European Union, Australia, China, India, and New Zealand, among other countries and regions, and he has completed research projects for international bodies such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and the World Trade Organization. Nigel is a member of the United Kingdom’s International Data Transfer Expert Council. Cory previously worked as a researcher in the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to that, he worked for eight years in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which included positions working on G20 global economic and trade issues and the Doha Development Round.

Deanna Tanner Okun is the Managing Partner at Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP. Deanna is an international trade lawyer providing legal and strategic international trade policy advice to steer companies through the intersection where innovation confronts barriers, such as intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices, or regulatory hurdles.  

Deanna’s practice involves all aspects of unfair trade litigation and trade remedy advocacy. Her Section 337 work includes all stages of litigation at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) from pre-institution consultation to post-remedy enforcement with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She also represents companies in Title VII antidumping and countervailing duty investigations before the ITC and Department of Commerce (DOC). In 2017, her client secured the first negative preliminary AD/CVD determination in over seven years. Deanna’s work in trade remedy proceedings on behalf of U.S. companies extends to previously rarely-used trade statutes, including Section 201, 232, and 301 investigations. Deanna participated in one of only two Section 201 investigations in the past twenty years, winning a successful remedy for her client. She works closely with contacts in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the government to create innovative solutions to her clients’ legal and business challenges.

Deanna has extensive experience as a top administrator, regulator, enforcer, legislative aide, and lawyer. She served two terms as Chairman during her twelve years of service as a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). During her tenure as a Commissioner, she ruled on hundreds of cases involving allegations of patent, trademark and copyright infringement as well as other types of unfair acts such as trade secrets. As Commissioner, she was involved in numerous antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and participated in almost all of the recent global safeguard investigations under the Trade Act of 1974, including investigations under Section 201 and the China-specific safeguard investigations under Section 421. Prior to her appointment to the ITC, she served as counsel for international affairs to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski, Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, and practiced international trade law with a large DC-based law firm. During her tenure at the ITC, Deanna was nominated to be Deputy United States Trade Representative.

In 2012, Deanna was named the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Association of Women in International Trade, a chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade. She has served on the Federal Circuit Advisory Council since 2013. In 2019, for the seventh consecutive year, Managing Intellectual Property named Deanna one of the Top 250 Women in IP. Deanna is also on the 2021-2022 USMCA Binational Panel Roster.

Clete R. Willems is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. Mr. Willems is a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he advises multinational companies, investors, and trade associations on international economic law and policy matters. Until April 2019, Mr. Willems was Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. In this role, he was a key negotiator with foreign governments, including China and the European Union, and the President’s lead negotiator at the G-7, G-20, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum. Prior to joining the White House, Mr. Willems was a trade negotiator and WTO litigator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). He also worked as Legislative Director for Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Mr. Willems graduated from the University of Notre Dame (BA) and Georgetown University Law Center (JD).

Maria C. Zieba is the Assistant Vice President of International Affairs at the National Pork Producers Council. Maria works on NPPC’s trade policy program focusing on opening, maintaining, and increasing market access for U.S. pork. 

Prior to joining NPPC, Maria was a trade policy manager for the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where she worked on various trade issues affecting the dairy industry. 

Previously, 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.

Maria serves as a Cleared Advisor on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Animals and Animal Products, providing input to USDA and USTR on key issues affecting U.S. pork exports. She also serves on the board of directors for the Association of Women in International Trade and Farmers for Free Trade. 

Maria holds a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside with a double major in Political Science-International Affairs and Spanish.

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