The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting United States foreign trade policies. 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 United States 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.
Robert Bruce Zoellick is an American public official and lawyer who was the 11th president of the World Bank Group,a position he held from July 1,2007 to June 30,2012. He was previously chairman of international advisors at Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2007,United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2005 to 2006,and U.S. Trade Representative from 2001 to 2005. Prior to those posts,from 1985 to 2001 he served in a variety of capacities in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush,and the presidential campaign of George W. Bush,in addition to positions in various think tanks and academia.
Charlene Barshefsky is an American lawyer. She served as United States Trade Representative from 1997 to 2001. She was the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 1993 to 1997. She is a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. She is also an advisor at Moelis &Company and a participant of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy convened by the Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations.
James Leonard Bacchus is an American lawyer,businessman,and politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1991 to 1995. He was a founding member and twice chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization in Geneva,Switzerland from 1995 to 2003. He later became a fellow of the European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
The Trade Act of 1974 was passed to give the President more power in matters of trade agreements and tariffs.
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.
Merit E. Janow is a professor in the practice of international trade and dean at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs from 2013 to 2021.
Jennifer Anne Hillman is a professor of practice at Georgetown University Law Center. As of 2016 she was working on trade litigation for Cassidy Kent.
Thomas Franklin "Mack" McLarty,III is an American business and political leader who served as President Bill Clinton's first White House Chief of Staff from 1993 to June 1994,and subsequently as counselor to the president and special envoy for the Americas,before leaving government service in June 1998.
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.
Nelson Cunningham is an American attorney and a Democratic political advisor who served in the presidential administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Karan Krishna Bhatia is an American attorney and former senior official in the Bush administration. He currently leads public policy and government relations for Google. He served as the deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 2005 to 2007,credited with leading the negotiation of the United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement. Additional appointments include Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs where he served from 2003 to 2005 and deputy under secretary of commerce for industry and security from 2001 to 2003. He served a total of six years in the Bush administration before returning to the private sector in 2008 to lead government affairs for General Electric.
The Foreign Affairs Policy Board is an advisory board that provides independent advice and opinion to the secretary of state,the deputy secretary of state,and the director of policy planning on matters concerning U.S. foreign policy. The board reviews and assesses global threats and opportunities,trends that implicate core national security interests,tools and capacities of the civilian foreign affairs agencies,and priorities and strategic frameworks for U.S. foreign policy. The board meets in a plenary session several times a year at the U.S. Department of State in the Harry S. Truman Building.
Michael W. Punke is an American author,attorney,academic,and policy analyst. He is a former Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva,Switzerland. In 2017,he became vice president for public policy at Amazon Web Services.
Robert Emmet Lighthizer is an American attorney and government official who was the U.S. Trade Representative in the Trump administration 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 who serves as a Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Cloud + AI at Microsoft. Previously a partner at Williams &Connolly,Mahoney served as the Deputy United States Trade Representative from 2018 to 2020.
Stephen de Boer is Canada's former Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva,Switzerland.
Jayme Ray White is an American public official who served as deputy United States trade representative (USTR).
Wendy Cutler is an American diplomat currently serving as Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute and managing director of its Washington D.C. office. She also serves on the board of advisors for Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
