WITA Names Nasim Fussell as New Chair of the WITA Board of Directors

Washington (March 12, 2025) – The Board of Directors of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) is pleased to announce that it has elected Nasim Fussell as the new Chair of WITA’s Board of Directors. Steve Lamar, the President and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, who served as WITA’s Board Chair since 2004, will continue to serve as a member of WITA’s Board of Directors.  

“I am incredibly honored to step into the role of Chair of the WITA Board of Directors. Steve Lamar’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping WITA into a premier forum for trade dialogue and policy discussion,” said Nasim. “Steve has been a mentor and friend to so many of us in the trade community, generously sharing his insight and guidance over the years. I look forward to building on the strong foundation laid by Steve, and continuing to advance WITA’s mission to provide a neutral forum for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy.”

Nasim Fussell, WITA’s new Chair, is a Senior Vice President at Lot Sixteen, where she leads the firm’s trade practice. On Capitol Hill, Nasim served as the Chief International Trade Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee under Chairman Chuck Grassley and Deputy Chief International Trade Counsel under Chairman Hatch, as well as Trade Counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, where she worked for Chairmen Brady, Ryan, and Camp. 

“Our whole team is excited to work with Nasim, and we are confident that she will be a worthy successor to all those whose leadership helped build the organization,” said Kenneth Levinson, WITA’s Chief Executive Officer. “Steve has been a tremendous leader in three transformational phases of WITAs growth,” continued Ken. “Steve oversaw the institutional development of WITA in the 2000s; the rapid growth of WITA’s membership in the 2010s; and its transition to a global platform for trade education in the 2020s.”

“Nasim has been an incredibly valuable member of WITA’s Board of Directors, and her accession to the Chair is a fantastic development that helps power WITA into the future by tapping into the next generation of leadership,” said Steve Lamar, WITA’s former Chair. “I look forward to working with Nasim and the Board as we help Ken and his team continue WITA’s incredible evolution.”

In addition to her roles in the U.S. Congress, Nasim has also worked in the private sector as a law firm partner, in-house with two multinational companies, and a trade association. She started her career at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She holds an LLM in International & Comparative Law from George Washington Law School, a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law, and a BA in History from the University of Michigan.

Read the Full Press Release Here

03/12/2025 | WITA

Event Video: Driving Health, Innovation, and Economic Opportunity Through Data and [International] Trade

Global commerce depends on the ability to use information and communication technology (ICT) networks and the Internet to conduct business across borders. Cross-border data transfers are essential to innovation, US jobs, exports, and business in the agriculture, automotive, aerospace, finance, health, media, software, and telecommunications sectors, among others.

On Friday, March 14, WITA hosted a webinar to examine efforts to create a predictable and stable international framework to ensure the secure and responsible movement of information across borders.

Featured Speakers:

Stephen Claeys, Senior Director, Global Trade Policy, Pfizer

Josh Kallmer, Head of Global Public Policy and Government Relations, Zoom Communications, Inc.

Marta Prado, Director, Global Government Engagement, Visa

Andrew Wayne, Managing Director, Digital, Tax & Trade Policy, Siemens U.S. Government Affairs

Moderator: Nigel Cory, Director, Crowell Global Advisors

Watch the Full Event Video Here

03/14/2025 | WITA

The Trade Imbalance Index: Where the Trump Administration Should Take Action to Address Trade Distortions

As the Trump administration seeks to rebalance America’s trade relationships, it should focus the most attention on countries where U.S. industries face the worst trade distortions and imbalances, and where the greatest gains can be achieved for the U.S. economy. China, India, and the European Union top that list.

Key Takeaways

• The White House has given the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, along with the departments of Treasury and Commerce, until April 1 to identify countries the administration should confront with corrective trade actions.
• It would be a mistake for the Trump administration to impose across-the-board tariffs on all nations, even if some run trade surpluses with America.
• The administration should focus on the nations that employ the most extensive arrays of unfair trade practices, including behind-the-border restrictions that specifically target U.S. companies or exports.
• Based on an index composed of 11 indicators covering America’s trade balances and key barriers U.S. industries face in markets around world, the administration should focus the greatest attention on China, India, and the European Union.
• While it is highly unlikely that tariffs or other pressure can convince China to reduce its trade distortions, such measures might work vis-à-vis U.S. relations with other nations.

Introduction

The second Trump administration has taken office looking to put U.S. trade relations on a more equitable footing with the rest of the world. President Trump has railed that other nations “are taking advantage of us” and vowed to ensure that U.S. companies are treated fairly in international markets. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently told U.S. allies, “I know you’ve gotten used to a foreign policy in which you act in the national interest of your country, and we sort of act in the interest of the globe or global order. But we are led by a different person now.”

To enact the president’s vision, the White House has instructed the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in coordination with the departments of Commerce and Treasury, to identify “any unfair trade practices by other countries and recommend appropriate actions to remedy such practices” by April 1, 2025.

Meanwhile, the president has already trained his fire at several nations in the opening weeks of his administration—notably Canada, China, Colombia, and Mexico—but the to-do list is long, as an increasing number of countries around the world have adopted mercantilist trade practices in recent decades. Against that backdrop, the administration should focus on countries where systematically unfair, mercantilist trade policies are inflicting the most significant damage on the U.S. economy and U.S. corporations (large and small alike), and where the United States stands to gain the most by restoring balanced trade. Accordingly, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has developed the “Trade Imbalance Index” described in this report. It evaluates 48 countries (15 of which are included in the “European Union” bloc) on 11 measures to ascertain which are the biggest trade mercantilists or scofflaws and where the Trump administration should concentrate its attention as it seeks to advance a trade policy that more effectively defends U.S. interests and ensures more balanced trade relations.

Read the Full Report Here

03/10/2025 | Stephen Ezell, Trelysa Long & Robert D. Atkinson |

Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

The U.S. Tariff Threat Could Break Canada—Or Be a Blessing in Disguise

If Donald Trump’s tariffs remain mostly a threat, or are quickly resolved once they are in fact implemented, this tiff may counterintuitively have the potential to be one of the best things that has happened for Canadian prosperity and unity in a long time.

The visceral reaction to President Trump’s threat of so-called “economic warfare” has forced Canadians to take a hard look at our productivity challenges in general and high dependence on the U.S. market in particular. This has already generated political commitments from nearly every corner to break out of the malaise that has held us back from realizing our potential.

Following through could save Canada from economic devastation and boost our sovereignty; failing to make meaningful changes like those listed below will not only harm us but also risks fracturing the federation.

Premiers are committing to break down internal trade barriers, which is certainly overdue and could boost our GDP by billions. Economist Trevor Tombe has estimated the boost from eliminating them entirely could be higher than the 3 to 4 percent GDP contraction expected if the tariffs do materialize. Despite the sharp change in tone from our premiers, however, we should not expect all the jurisdictional turf involved in these provincial barriers to be ceded.

Fortunately, there has been a strong shift in tone in another critical area: streamlining regulations on major infrastructure projects that extract our resources and transport them east-west.

Across the political spectrum, and even in Quebec, there is suddenly a great deal of life in what seemed a moribund area of economic opportunity. As politicians and their economic advisors now desperately scan Canadian industries for means of boosting our productivity, hostile policies holding back resources—especially oil and gas—stand out.

Read the Full Commentary Here

03/12/2025 | Bill Bewick | The Hub

WITA – We put the community in trade community.

Information about upcoming WITA and trade community events

TRADE COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR