FEATURING:
Wendy Cutler
Vice President and Managing Director of Washington D.C. Office
Asia Society Policy Institute
Wendy Cutler joined the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) as vice president in November 2015. She also serves as the managing director of the Washington D.C. Office. In these roles, she focuses on building ASPI’s presence in Washington — strengthening its outreach as a think/do tank — and on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade and investment, 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). Most recently she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, working on a range of U.S. trade negotiations and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In that capacity, she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, including the bilateral negotiations with Japan. She also was the chief negotiator to the U.S.-Korea (Korus) Free Trade Agreement. Cutler received her master’s degree from Georgetown.
Beth Baltzan
American Phoenix Trade Advisory Service and
formerly with USTR and the House Ways & Means Committee
Beth Baltzan founded American Phoenix Trade Advisory Services and Open Markets Institute. She is a lawyer who practiced with two preeminent law firms before joining the government. In government, she worked for the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the House Ways and Means Committee. She has also worked for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
At USTR, Baltzan was the principal customs and rule-of-origin lawyer for all U.S. trade agreements negotiated between 2003 and 2009. She was also the principal lawyer for U.S. programs benefiting developing countries, including the Generalized System of Preferences and the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Other portfolios included intellectual property, textiles, and market access. Baltzan also had a sizable litigation portfolio at USTR, including multiple disputes at the World Trade Organization. In connection with her litigation work, she participated in WTO negotiations.
In 2012, Baltzan joined the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Democratic staff, where she became a trusted adviser to Members and staff on a range of issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement. As the principal staffer on three trade bills that moved in 2015 (customs, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and preferences for developing programs), Baltzan routinely collaborated with her Republican counterparts. Baltzan’s other areas of expertise for the Committee included intellectual property, financial services, environment, and labor.
In 2016, USTR asked Baltzan to return to the agency to assist in preparing a dispute against China involving subsidies to its aluminum industry. Baltzan’s work on that dispute, in conjunction with her experience at the PCAOB, have given her insight into Chinese economic and financial policies, and the way they affect American markets. In May 2019, Baltzan testified before the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee on the subject of Enforcement in the New NAFTA. In addition, she has been named to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement Roster.
She graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with a Bachelor’s in International Relations and earned her JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996.
Anabel Gonzalez
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics and
former Minister of Trade of Costa Rica
Anabel González has been nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since October 2018. She was senior director of the World Bank’s Global Practice on Trade & Competitiveness (2014–18), where she led the Bank’s agenda on trade, investment climate, competitiveness, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
She previously served as minister of trade of Costa Rica (2010–14), where she headed the strategy to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, negotiated and implemented six free trade agreements, and contributed to attract over 140 foreign direct investment projects. She also had a lead role in Costa Rica’s Competitiveness and Innovation Council and was president of the Export Promotion Board.
In her more than 15 years of service at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, she held several positions, including ambassador and chief negotiator of the free trade agreement between Central America and the United States (2003–04). She has also worked as director of the Agriculture Division of the World Trade Organization (2006–09); senior consultant on trade and investment, Inter-American Development Bank (2009–10); and director-general, Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (2001–2002). She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Trade and Investment and has written extensively on trade and investment and presented in over 50 countries around the world.
She holds a master’s degree in international trade law and policy from Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Costa Rica.
Nicole Bivens Collinson
President, International Trade & Government Relations
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg P.A.
Nicole Bivens Collinson leads the International Trade and Government relations practice of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., and serves as managing principal of the Washington, D.C., office. She is also a member of the Firm’s Operating Committee and a commentator on trade matters on MSNBC and NPR. Ms. Collinson prepares countries, companies and associations for negotiations with the United States on free trade agreements, trade and investment agreements, labor disputes or other preferential programs. Further, her work representing clients before Congress has earned her a well-respected position among politicians involved in international and business affairs.
Ms. Collinson has over 30 years of experience in government, public affairs and lobbying. She has drafted and guided the successful implementation of several pieces of key international trade legislation positively affecting the bottom line of many U.S. companies. Clients have saved millions of dollars through the successful drafting, guidance and passage of legislation that reduces or eliminates duties — crafting creative measures to benefit clients such as blocking changes to the First Sale doctrine, Miscellaneous Tariff Bills, specific trade preference legislation, the Generalized System of Preferences, etc. Such a track record demonstrates her ability to effectively move your agenda forward.
Prior to joining the Firm, 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 current 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, and a member of the Washington International Trade Association, the Washington International Trade Association Foundation, and the National Association of Manufacturers and Women in Government Relations. She serves on the board of trustees for Georgetown College and the board of directors for Imojeans, and she 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.