The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting American trade policy. Part of the Executive Office of the President,it is headed by the U.S. Trade Representative,a Cabinet-level position that serves as the U.S. President's primary advisor,negotiator,and spokesperson on trade matters. USTR has more than two hundred employees,with offices in Geneva,Switzerland,and Brussels,Belgium.
Ronald Kirk is an American lawyer,politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013 and the 57th Mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA),formed in 1984,is a private sector coalition of seven trade associations representing U.S. companies that produce copyright-protected material,including computer software,films,television programs,music,books,and journals. It seeks to strengthen international copyright protection and enforcement by working with the U.S. government,foreign governments,and private-sector representatives.
Susan Carol Schwab is an American politician,who served under President George W. Bush as United States Trade Representative from June,2006 to January,2009. She is not related to Charles R. Schwab Sr.,founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation,despite coincidentally sharing the same last name;she is also not to be confused with his first wife Susan (Cotter) Schwab.
The US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement is a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Morocco. The agreement was signed on June 15,2004,followed by U.S. President George W. Bush's signing of the USMFTA Implementation Act on August 17,2004. The United States House of Representatives ratified the pact on July 22,2004 by a 323–99 vote. The United States Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent on July 21,2004. The Morocco FTA came into effect on January 1,2006.
Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action,including tariff-based and non-tariff-based retaliation,to obtain the removal of any act,policy,or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified,unreasonable,or discriminatory,and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce. Section 301 cases can be self-initiated by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) or as the result of a petition filed by a firm or industry group. If USTR initiates a Section 301 investigation,it must seek to negotiate a settlement with the foreign country in the form of compensation or elimination of the trade barrier. For cases involving trade agreements,the USTR is required to request formal dispute proceedings as provided by the trade agreements. The law does not require that the U.S. government wait until it receives authorization from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take enforcement actions,and the President is increasingly focused on enforcing intellectual property (IP) rights under the "Special" 301 amendments but the U.S. has committed itself to pursuing the resolution of disputes under WTO agreements through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,which has its own timetable.
The Software Alliance,also known as BSA,is a trade group established by Microsoft in 1988 to represent commercial software makers. It is a member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance. Its principal activity is trying to stop copyright infringement of software produced by its members. Founded as the Business Software Alliance,it dropped "Business" from its name in October 2012,and styles itself "BSA | The Software Alliance".
Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required,thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder,such as the right to reproduce,distribute,display or perform the protected work,or to make derivative works. The copyright holder is typically the work's creator,or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.
The Chief Agricultural Negotiator is an ambassador of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) responsible for conducting and overseeing international negotiations related to trade in agricultural products. The Chief Agricultural Negotiator is compensated at the rate payable for Level III of the Executive Schedule.
The Special 301 Report is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due to the intellectual property laws,such as copyright,patents and trademarks,in other countries. By April 30 of each year,the USTR must identify countries which do not provide "adequate and effective" protection of intellectual property rights or "fair and equitable market access to United States persons that rely upon intellectual property rights".
Victoria Angelica Espinel is the president and chief executive of the software industry trade group BSA.
The Copyright Alliance is a nonprofit,nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization representing artistic creators across a broad range of copyright disciplines.
Demetrios J. Marantis is the Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at JPMorgan Chase. Previously,he served as a lawyer,senior government official and executive. He served as the acting United States Trade Representative (USTR) from March 15,2013,until May 23,2013. He served as the Deputy Trade Representative for four years under Ron Kirk,and became the acting Trade Representative when Kirk resigned in March 2013.
Cary Douglas Pugh is a judge of the United States Tax Court.
Jennifer Choe-Groves is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States Judge of the United States Court of International Trade.
Michael W. Punke is an American writer,novelist,professor,policy analyst,policy consultant,attorney,and former Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva,Switzerland. He is currently the Vice President of Public Policy for Amazon Web Services. He is best known for writing The Revenant:A Novel of Revenge (2002),which was adapted into film as The Revenant (2015),directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu,with a screenplay by Iñárritu and Mark L. Smith,and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
Robert Emmet Lighthizer is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2017 to 2021.
María Luisa Pagán is an American attorney who is serving as the U.S. deputy trade representative in the Geneva office. Pagan was formerly the Deputy General Counsel of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR),giving legal advice about trade negotiations,agreements,and regulations.
Curtis Joseph "C.J." Mahoney is an American attorney and a Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft. Previously a partner at Williams &Connolly,Mahoney served as the Deputy United States Trade Representative from 2018 to 2020.
Everett Eissenstat is a former U.S. government official who previously served as senior vice president of global public policy for General Motors. He is the former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump,where he represented the President at the G7,G20,and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summits. He also served on the National Security Council. Eissenstat succeeded Kenneth Juster,who was nominated by Donald Trump to serve as the United States Ambassador to India.
