Featuring
Angela Ellard, House Ways & Means Committee
Katherine Tai, House Ways & Means Committee
Shane Warren, Senate Finance Committee
Jayme White, Senate Finance Committee
Angela Ellard is the Ways & Means Committee Chief Trade Counsel and Trade Subcommittee Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives. She advises and represents Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman David Reichert (R-WA) on a variety of trade matters, including negotiation and implementation of all U.S. bilateral and regional free trade agreements since 1995, the operation of U.S. trade and customs laws, trade promotion authority, antidumping and countervailing duty issues, bilateral relationships with U.S. trading partners, preference programs for developing countries, and World Trade Organization negotiations, dispute settlement, and accessions. Before joining the Committee staff in 1995, Ms. Ellard was in private practice, specializing in international trade litigation and policy, including antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings and appeals on behalf of petitioners and respondents, other trade remedy proceedings, and bilateral and multilateral agreements. Ms. Ellard received her J.D. from Tulane Law School, cum laude, and she was an associate editor of the Tulane Law Review. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Newcomb College of Tulane University, summa cum laude. Ms. Ellard frequently speaks on trade litigation and policy and lectures at universities. She has been awarded the 2013 Award for Outstanding Performance by an International Lawyer in a Government or International Organization by the American Bar Association International Law Section. She has also received the 2011 Lighthouse Award from Washington International Trade Association and Washington International Trade Foundation, the 2009 Woman of the Year award by the Organization of Women in International Trade, and the 2005 Woman of the Year award by the Trade Policy Forum.
Katherine Tai serves as the lead advisor to the Ranking Member and Democratic Members of the Committee on Ways and Means on matters of international trade. She joined the Committee as Trade Counsel in 2014. Katherine came to the Committee from USTR where she served in the Office of the General Counsel, first as Associate General Counsel from 2007 to 2011 and then as Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement with responsibility for the development and litigation of U.S. disputes against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Before joining USTR, Katherine worked in the international trade departments in several Washington, DC law firms. Katherine was born in Connecticut and raised in Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.
Shane Warren serves as Chief International Trade Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee. Shane joined the Committee in 2013 and has assisted Chairman Hatch in passing trade promotion authority (TPA), customs, preferences, and miscellaneous tariff bill legislation. Previously, Shane was Assistant General Counsel at USTR, where he served as lead counsel for the United States in multiple trade disputes, including challenging foreign trade barriers and defending U.S. trade remedy laws. From 2007-2011, Shane served USTR at the United States Mission to the World Trade Organization as Assistant Legal Adviser.
Jayme White currently serves as Chief Advisor for International Competitiveness and Innovation for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, serving as the top advisor on international trade to Democratic Senators on the Committee. In this position, White works with his counterparts in the House and the Senate to provide oversight and direction to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. White played an instrumental role in the development and enactment of Trade Promotion Authority in 2015, renewal and expansion of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, trade preferences for African and other developing countries, and the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act that was enacted in 2016. White has served in the Congress for more than 17 years. Before taking his position for the Finance Committee under the leadership of Senator Wyden, he served as Wyden’s Legislative Director and led his work on trade and technology policy, including the successful fight to defeat the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). He also worked in the House of Representatives for a senior Ways and Means Committee Member, Representative Jim McDermott. Before becoming a public servant on Capitol Hill, White worked in the private sector in Seattle, his hometown, where he operated a successful independent record company. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Georgetown University.