Prices and Registration:

WITA Member: $100

Non-WITA Member: $200

Free for Embassy, Ministry, and Government Officials from All Countries

(Must register with official government email)

Free for Full Time Students (Must register with university emails)

For group rates (3 or more ticket purchases), email Diego Añez (danez@wita.org) to receive a special rate.

Program Agenda and Speakers

9:00 AM ET: Making the Case: Tariffs and the Economic Impacts

Nova Daly, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Wiley Rein LLP; former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Investment Security & Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of International Affairs

Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets, Progressive Policy Institute; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Christine McDaniel, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University; Non-resident Fellow, Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; former Senior International Trade Economist, Council of Economic Advisers, The White House

Michael Stumo, CEO, Coalition for a Prosperous America

Moderator: David Lynch, Global Economics Correspondent, The Washington Post

9:55 AM ET: Tariff and Trade Law Primer: The Legal Basis for Tariffs and Oversight

Kathleen Claussen, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; former Associate General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Everett Eissenstat, Partner, Public Policy Practice Group, Squire Patton Boggs; former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director, National Economic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Americas, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; former Chief International Trade Counsel, United States Senate

Sally Laing, Partner, Akin; former Chief International Trade Counsel, United States Senate Committee on Finance

Moderator: Neena Shenai, Partner, International Trade Investment and Market Access, WilmerHale; former Trade Counsel, House Committee on Ways and Means

10:45 AM ET: Global Responses: Negotiation, Retaliation, Multilateral Trade

Wendy Cutler, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Washington, D.C. Office; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Non-resident fellow, Bruegel; former Director, Directorate for Trade at the European Commission

Kenneth Smith Ramos, Partner, Agon; formerly Mexico’s Chief Negotiator for the USMCA, Office of the Secretariat of the Economy

Steve Verheul, Principal, GT&Co Executive Advisors; former Special Advisor, Trade Policy, Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance

Moderator: Kate Kalutkiewicz, Senior Managing Director, McLarty Associates; former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Trade, National Economic Council; former Director for European Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

11:35 AM ET: Sectoral Impacts: What it May Mean for Farmers, Consumers and Firms

Edward Balistreri, Duane Acklie Chair and Professor of Economics, Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Kevin Dempsey, President and CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute

Stacy Ettinger, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Trade, Solar Energy Industries Association

Jon Gold, Vice President, Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National Retail Federation

Steve Lamar, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)

Moderator: Thomas Beline, Partner, Cassidy Levy Kent; former Office of the Chief Counsel for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce

Speaker Biographies 

Nova J. Daly is a Senior Public Policy Advisor at Wiley Rein LLP. Nova was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Investment Security and Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he directed and coordinated the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and created and led the U.S.-EU Investment Dialogue and the U.S.-China Investment Forum. He also developed the U.S. Treasury’s “Open Investment Initiative” to attract foreign investment and reduce foreign and domestic barriers to international investments. Before joining Treasury, Mr. Daly was Director for International Trade at the National Security Council, Senior Advisor for Trade Policy for Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, and an International Trade Advisor for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Ed Gresser is Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at PPI.

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.

Christine McDaniel is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Clayton Yuetter Institute of International Trade and Finance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research focuses on international trade, globalization, and intellectual property rights.

McDaniel previously worked at Sidley Austin, LLP, a global law firm, where she was a senior economist. She has held several positions in the U.S. government, including Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department and senior trade economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and has worked in the economic offices of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative, and U.S. International Trade Commission.

McDaniel has written for the Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Hill, and Forbes, among others, and her media appearances include CNBC, CBC, BBC, Bloomberg, and MSNBC.

McDaniel spent three years in Australia as deputy chief economist in Australia’s patent office. She has published in the areas of international trade, intellectual property, and empirical trade analysis and modeling. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado and received her B.A. in Economics and Japanese Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Michael Stumo is the Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA). CPA is a national bipartisan organization including agriculture, manufacturing and organized labor. CPA works for policies to balance U.S. trade, create jobs and achieve broadly shared prosperity. CPA represents the interests of over 4.1 million households through its association and company members.

Michael works closely with US administration officials as well as Democratic and Republican congressional offices. He supervises the CPA Research Department which provides innovative analysis of emerging trade and tax issues, producing data-based results that sometimes challenge conventional theory.

Michael educates political, media and business leaders on issues including trade imbalances, trade enforcement, tax reform, agricultural trade, manufacturing policy, currency misalignment and related issues. He appears on American and international television (CNBC, Japan NHK World) and radio programs (BBC World Service), and speaks before domestic and international audiences. His articles on trade, tax and economics are published frequently in publications like The Hill, Inside Sources, and Marketwatch among many other US publications.

Michael was a lawyer and litigator at Brignole, Bush and Lewis (Hartford CT) and Domina Law (Omaha NE). He was general counsel for the Organization for Competitive Markets focusing upon agriculture and antitrust.

Michael holds a B.S. from Iowa State University in Agriculture (high distinction) and a law degree from the University of Iowa (high distinction). He lives on a farm in southwest Massachusetts with his wife, Nadia, where they raised three children.

David J. Lynch is a Global Economics Correspondent at The Washington Post. He joined The Washington Post in November 2017 from the Financial Times, where he covered white-collar crime. He was previously the cybersecurity editor at Politico and a senior writer with Bloomberg News, focusing on the intersection of politics and economics. Earlier, he followed the global economy for USA Today, where he was the founding bureau chief in both London and Beijing. He covered the wars in Kosovo and Iraq, the latter as an embedded reporter with the U.S. Marines, and was the paper’s first recipient of a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. He has reported from more than 60 countries.

Professor Kathleen Claussen is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and has served as arbitrator, counsel, expert, public servant, and teacher. Her expertise covers several topics of international law, especially trade, investment, international business and labor; dispute settlement and international dispute bodies; national security and cybersecurity law; and administrative law issues surrounding U.S. foreign relations and transnational agreements.

Her work has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, and the Virginia Law Review, among others, as well as in leading international law journals. One of her articles on international investment disputes, The International Claims Trade, was awarded the Smit-Lowenfeld Prize in International Arbitration. Professor Claussen is also the co-founder of SAILS: the Consortium for the Study and Analysis of International Law Scholarship. She is the editor (with Geraldo Vidigal) of The Sustainability Revolution in Trade Agreements, forthcoming with Oxford University Press. She also co-edits an open-access textbook on international trade law together with Julian Arato, Joseph Weiler, and Sungjoon Cho. Professor Claussen has also blogged at Lawfare, Just Security, the International Economic Law & Policy Blog, and Opinio Juris, and is regularly featured on or consulted as an expert for various media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Marketplace, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times.

Professor Claussen has served as an arbitrator, as counsel, or as counsel to the tribunal in more than a dozen international trade and investment cases. She has been named to three arbitration rosters to serve as panel chair or panel member in state-to-state disputes. She is also regularly called upon to testify as an expert before legislative and independent review boards. In 2021-2022, she co-authored a study commissioned by the Administrative Conference of the United States on alternative dispute resolution in federal agency programs.

Professor Claussen has served as a visiting faculty member or invited researcher at numerous institutions around the world, including Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, the University of Cambridge Lauterpacht Centre for International Law where she was a Brandon Fellow, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, the iCourts Center of Excellence at the University of Copenhagen, the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies, the University of Zurich and Collegium Helveticum, and the World Trade Institute. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty in 2023, she was a member of the faculty at the University of Miami School of Law for five years.

Professor Claussen holds several leadership positions within international law and arbitration professional associations. In 2021, she was appointed co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Economic Law. Her other recent governance appointments include the American Society of International Law (ASIL) International Economic Law Interest Group, the ASIL Executive Council & Executive Committee, and the Junior International Law Scholars Association. She is also a member of the Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration and the Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute settlement.

Before joining the academy, Professor Claussen was Associate General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. There, she represented the United States in trade dispute proceedings and served as a legal advisor for the United States in international trade negotiations. She also worked on economic security issues on behalf of USTR at the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force. In 2020-2021, she was an invited member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team, covering trade, commerce, and development agencies.

Earlier in her career, Professor Claussen was Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague where she advised on disputes between countries, and on investment and commercial arbitrations involving countries and international organizations. She also clerked for the Honorable David F. Hamilton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. At Yale, Professor Claussen served on the board of the Yale Law Journal and was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law. She was awarded the Jerome Sayles Hess Fund Prize for excellence in international law and the Howard M. Holtzmann Fellowship in international dispute resolution.

Everett Eissenstat is Partner of the Public Policy Practice Group at Squire Patton Boggs. He is one of the nation’s foremost global trade experts having served in senior positions in Congress, Office of the United States Trade Representative, The White House, and a Fortune 50 company. He helps clients manage and mitigate geopolitical risk, influence international economic policy-making, and develop and execute successful international trade and investment strategies.

During a distinguished government career spanning over two decades, Everett served as Deputy Assistant to the President for International 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, he coordinated interagency policy development and implementation on international economic policy matters. Previously, he also held key roles in the US House, Senate, and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), including as the Chief International Trade Counsel to the Chairman of the US Senate Finance Committee (2011-2017), and as Assistant US Trade Representative for the Americas (2006-2011), Everett led negotiations of multiple comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements.

Everett also served as Legislative Director for Rep. Jim Kolbe, where he advised the Congressman on international trade matters, appropriations, and foreign affairs. He was also Senior Vice President at a multinational automotive manufacturer (2018 – 2021) reporting to the CEO and managing over 100 public policy professionals worldwide. He helped navigate a range of challenges including labor relations, supply chain disruptions and the regulatory and compliance implications of transitioning from internal combustible engines to electric vehicles.

Sally Laing is a Partner at Akin. Drawing on 15 years of executive branch, congressional and private practice experience, Sally advises clients on the intersection of international trade law and U.S. public policy. In this capacity, she guides clients through complex strategic decisions regarding regulatory compliance, supply chain resiliency and overcoming trade barriers. Leveraging experience as a senior government official, Sally is able to counsel clients on cutting-edge trade issues, industrial policy and other emerging challenges.

Sally most recently served as Chief International Trade Counsel to Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senate Finance Democrats. In this capacity, Sally drafted, negotiated and shepherded the passage of significant trade legislation, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and Taiwan Agreement implementation bills. She also led Senate oversight of implementation of new customs requirements, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and U.S. trade negotiations through high-level engagement with U.S. officials, foreign governments and stakeholders from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Kenya, Taiwan and elsewhere. Sally also worked extensively with the Senate Finance Committee tax team and Senate leadership on the drafting, defending and passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Prior to joining the staff of the Senate Finance Committee, Sally was Assistant General Counsel at USTR under both Democratic and Republican Administrations. In this role, Sally researched, developed and litigated several critical WTO disputes, including helping to develop the factual and legal basis for the last two significant U.S. WTO cases against China. She was also charged with drafting and negotiating portions of the USMCA agriculture and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapters, as well as product-specific annexes and side letters. During her time at USTR, Sally worked extensively with U.S. government agencies such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Commerce (DOC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of State.

Prior to serving in government, Sally was an associate at Akin, where she worked on trade policy, trade remedies and customs matters.

Neena Shenai is a Partner at WilmerHale. Neena Shenai is a seasoned legal professional with over 20 years of legal, compliance and policy experience in global cross-border activities in the private sector and in government. Ms. Shenai focuses her practice on sanctions and export controls, import/customs, CFIUS, M&A due diligence and trade policy.

From 2015-2023, Ms. Shenai held several senior roles for Medtronic, the world’s largest medical technology company. While at Medtronic, she served as chief legal counsel and head of compliance for global trade matters impacting the company’s operations in over 150 countries, including sanctions and export controls, import and strategic supply chain issues, risk management and mitigation, corporate due diligence and trade policy.

Ms. Shenai served as a trade counsel for the House Committee on Ways and Means during the chairmanships of then-Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Paul Ryan (R-WI). She has also worked as a trade policy counsel for the Senate Republican Policy Committee and as the senior adviser to the assistant secretary for export administration in the Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce.

Ms. Shenai previously was in private practice as an associate in the Washington, DC office of another international law firm and a professional trainee in the Rules Division of the World Trade Organization. She clerked for the Hon. Evan J. Wallach on the US Court of International Trade.

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.

Ignacio Garcia Bercero is a Non-resident fellow at Bruegel since September 2024.

Active at the European Commission since 1987, he participated in the Uruguay Round negotiations and was subsequently posted in the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York. Upon his return to Brussels he worked in the preparation of what eventually became the Doha Development agenda and was head of unit for legal affairs and WTO dispute settment.

From 2005 until 2011 he was Director responsible for the areas of Sustainable Development, Bilateral Trade Relations (South Asia, South-East Asia, Korea, Russia and ex-CIS countries, EuroMed and the Middle East). He was also the Chief Negotiator for the EU-Korea and EU-India Free Trade Agreements. From 2012 he was responsible for overseeing EU activities in the field of Neighbouring countries, US and Canada and was Chief negotiator for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Mr Garcia Bercero has written several papers and publications on WTO matters, including WTO reform, Dispute Settlement, Competition Policy and Regulatory Cooperation

In 2020 he has completed a Fellowship at Saint Anthony’s College Oxford where his research focused on WTO reform. Since 2021 he is Visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science of the University College London and Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mr Garcia Bercero holds a Law Degree from the Law Faculty of Universidad Complutense, Madrid and a Master of Laws Degree (with Distinction) from University College, London.

Kenneth Smith Ramos is Partner at Agon and 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).

Andrew W. Shoyer is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Sidley Austin LLP and co-chairs the firm’s Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy practice. Andy focuses on the implementation and enforcement of international trade and investment agreements. He also advises companies on compliance with sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and export controls and anti-boycott rules administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Drawing on his experience at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and with the World Trade Organization (WTO), Andy advises companies, trade associations and governments on the use of WTO, USMCA and other treaty-based trade and investment rules to open markets and resolve disputes. He works extensively with manufacturers and service providers on WTO compliance in Asia and on protection of intellectual property in bilateral and regional free trade negotiations.

Andy spent seven years at USTR, serving most recently as legal adviser in the U.S. Mission to the WTO in Geneva. He was the principal negotiator for the United States of the rules implementing the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding and has briefed and argued numerous WTO cases before dispute settlement panels and the WTO Appellate Body. Prior to his arrival in Geneva, Andy was assistant general counsel at USTR in Washington, D.C., where he served as principal legal counsel in the negotiation of the market access rules of the NAFTA, as well as the framework agreements with various Latin American countries. He also worked on numerous trade policy issues with the U.S. Congress and the economic agencies of the executive branch of the U.S. government.

Steve Verheul is a Principal at GT&Co Executive Advisors. As Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator from 2017 to 2021, Steve Verheul was responsible for negotiating Canada’s most important trade deals including the new NAFTA (CUSMA/USMCA) and Canada-European Union trade agreement. Most recently he served as a special advisor on trade policy to Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance.

Hailed by media and pundits as the “most important Canadian you’ve probably never heard of”, Mr. Verheul’s support for our clients is game-changing. His network, expertise and relationships in domestic and international markets is unparalleled.

During his 34 years in the federal public service, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of the Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch at Global Affairs Canada and appointed as Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator for negotiations between Canada and the European Union in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2009-2016, leading that negotiation from its beginning through to its successful conclusion.

He was previously Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture, including the WTO. During his tenure at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.

Mr. Verheul is known for his steady hand and sound advice in guiding companies and organizations through complex, time-sensitive and pressing international trade issues, explaining and anticipating government policies and decisions, and finding creative solutions to challenging problems and identifying emerging opportunities. He currently advises CEOs, boards of directors, and senior executives on the shifting international trade landscape in order to forecast and mitigate risks, and exploit opportunities in existing or changing government policies and directions.

Kate Kalutkiewicz is a Senior Managing Director at McLarty, and leads the trade practice and contributes to the firm’s Europe practice and McLarty Inbound.
Kate has managed complex challenges around global trade, industrial, and investment policy for nearly two decades. Her experience spans roles in government, particularly in Europe and South America, where she honed her skills in negotiating complex international agreements and navigating the nuance around public-private sector interactions.

Kate most recently served as Head of US Trade Policy for Amazon, where she advocated a broad range of international trade and economic issues with the US Government, touching several sectors, including retail, creative content production and distribution, cloud services, sustainable fleet, autos, and hardline manufacturing.

Prior to that, Kate served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Trade at the National Economic Council, where she developed and led US trade policy initiatives. During her White House tenure, she led interagency teams responsible for the US G7 Presidency and US positions on supply chain resiliency and support for the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before serving in the White House, Kate was the Senior Trade Representative at the US Mission to the European Union from 2016-2020. While in Brussels, she was the USTR’s primary interlocutor with the European Commission and Member State authorities responsible for trade.

Before her time in Brussels, Kate held the role of USTR’s Director for European Affairs (2011-2016) and served as Associate Chief Negotiator for the US in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. She began her career at USTR as its Director for Brazil and the Southern Cone (2007-2011), where she was the principal agency representative for implementing and managing US trade policy in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Prior to USTR, Kate was a legislative assistant in the office of Senator James Talent (R-MO), where she supported the Senator on issues related to trade, foreign policy, homeland security, immigration, and the judiciary.

Professor Edward J. Balistreri is the Duane Acklie College of Business Yeutter Institute Chair at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since August 2020. The Acklie Chair resides in the Department of Economics and serves as a core faculty member of the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance. Professor Balistreri has contributed to climate and trade-policy debates as an academic, a research economist at the United States International Trade Commission, and as a consultant. This experience gives him a unique and informed perspective as both an educator and researcher. He has considerable expertise working with legal teams in the analysis of trade agreements and trade disputes, including a decomposition of policy impacts for US states, and with a focus on agricultural and energy products. Prior to joining the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Balistreri held academic positions at Iowa State University and the Colorado School of Mines. Balistreri earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder and his bachelor’s degree in economics from Arizona State University.

Kevin Dempsey is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute, representing the interests of American steel producers. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Public Policy and General Counsel to the Institute for the past 11 years during which AISI achieved key policy successes; including: implementation of Section 232 trade remedies to preserve the steel industry’s key role in national and economic security, the enactment of historic legislation to strengthen trade laws, successful infrastructure initiatives to benefit the steel industry and numerous measures that enhance steel manufacturing competitiveness.

Before joining AISI, Dempsey was a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf, a global law firm. Dempsey litigated numerous international trade cases on behalf of U.S. steel producers and other U.S. industries before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. courts. He served as counsel to several U.S. steel producers in the successful Section 201 investigation on steel products.

Dempsey also previously served as counsel to Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO) and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. While on the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, he participated in the development of the acid rain cap-and-trade system established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Later, while serving on Senator Danforth’s personal staff and again on the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, he played a key role in the drafting of the implementing legislation for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the GATT Uruguay Round Trade Agreements.

Dempsey has, and continues to, work extensively on international trade negotiations given his considerable experience with U.S. and international law related to subsidies, trade remedies, market access, intellectual property rights, and product standards, as well as U.S. legislative procedures for authorizing and implementing trade agreements.

Dempsey received his Juris Doctor Degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington University in St. Louis.

Stacy J. Ettinger is SEIA’s Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Trade where she oversees SEIA’s policy and legal work on supply chain, trade, and sustainability efforts. She has over 25 years of experience advising U.S. and foreign businesses on policy, regulatory, and legal issues related to industrial policy, trade, and investment.

Prior to joining SEIA, Stacy was a partner in the global law firm K&L Gates, leading the firm’s international trade policy practice. She also served for over nine years as senior legal and policy advisor to Senator Chuck Schumer on trade, investment, and regulatory matters, as well as consumer protection issues.

Prior to her work in the United States Senate, Stacy spent 15 years at the U.S. Department of Commerce as a trade negotiator, legal and policy advisor, and litigator. During her time at Commerce she represented the United States in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations, investigated and litigated unfair trade practices (dumping, subsidies), and managed complex federal rulemaking projects. Stacy also represented the United States in more than 30 appearances in WTO dispute settlement proceedings.

Jonathan Gold is vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. In this role, Gold is a primary spokesperson and is responsible for representing the retail industry before Congress and the administration on supply chain, international trade, product safety and customs-related issues impacting the retail industry. While with NRF, he has been a leading advocate of the value of trade and global value chains to the U.S. economy.

Prior to joining NRF, Gold served as a policy analyst in the Office of Policy and Planning for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He joined CBP in May 2006 and was responsible for providing policy guidance on issues surrounding maritime cargo security and trade-related matters. Gold also worked on implementation issues surrounding the SAFE Port Act and other issues within the agency including CBP intelligence reform, pandemic flu and trade facilitation.

Before joining CBP, Gold spent nearly a decade with the Retail Industry Leaders Association holding several government relations positions including director and then vice president of international trade policy before being named vice president of global supply chain policy in January 2005.

Gold has served on several government advisory committees including the Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, the Department of Homeland Security’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) and on the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Advisory Committee on Distribution Services.

Gold graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in international business with a concentration in finance.

Stephen E. Lamar is President and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the national trade association representing more than 1,000 brands in the apparel and footwear industry. Steve leads a dedicated team of professionals who represent AAFA members before the government, through the media, and in industry settings on key brand protection, supply chain and manufacturing, and trade issues. Steve also advises AAFA member companies on legislation and regulatory policies. Prior to becoming President and CEO, Steve served as Executive Vice President for the association.

Prior to AAFA, Steve spent more than a decade engaged in international public policy work, including stints at the U.S. Commerce Department and in the Peace Corps. A runner, juggler, and genealogist in his spare time, Steve is President of the Washington International Trade Association. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Colgate University and a Master of Arts Degree in International Affairs (with a concentration on African politics and international trade) from George Washington University.

Thomas M. Beline is a partner in Cassidy Levy Kent’s Washington DC office. Tom identifies creative ways for clients to benefit from import regulatory compliance and policy, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Tom’s representative experience involves appearing as lead counsel for clients in various and wide-ranging industries before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) binational panels. Tom regularly advises clients on compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and navigating the dispute settlement process. Tom regularly provides counsel to companies on complying with, and benefiting from, trade and customs regulation before U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Tom’s work includes prosecuting and defending trade actions in the United States and abroad, and has litigated trade issues in bankruptcy law and reverse Qui Tam actions. In addition to this work, Tom has experience counseling clients in navigating U.S. trade restrictions, including in export controls, antiboycott, economic sanctions, and anticorruption laws.

Tom has been appointed by the chief judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade to serve as a member of the Court’s Rules Advisory Committee. Tom has also appeared as a frequent speaker on international trade topics. Tom is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh.

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