YTP: Deepening NAFTA and Signing New Trade Agreements

Please join the Young Trade Professionals as we welcome Frank Lavin and Fredrik Erixon to discuss the current trade policy climate in Washington and provide policy prescriptions for President Trump’s trade agenda. Our speakers will highlight a variety of trade issues that are at the forefront of today’s conversation, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), enforcement, the reduction of the trade deficit, and global value chains. With years of experience in both the public and private sector, our speakers will help guide the discussion as to where they would like to see trade policy headed in the years to come. Frank Lavin was the US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade between 2005 and 2007, and the US Ambassador to Singapore between 2001 and 2005. He is now the Founding CEO of Export Now. Fredrik Erixon is the Director and Co-Founder of the European Centre for International Political Economy and was named one of the Top 30 influencers in Brussels by the Financial Times. Frank Lavin, Founder of Export Now, has devoted his government and private sector careers to helping companies succeed in new markets, with an emphasis on China. In government, Frank served as Ambassador to Singapore and Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade. In the latter role, he was lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was the senior policy official, responsible for commercial policy, export promotion and trade negotiations. In the private sector, Frank was most recently an Asia practice leader at Edelman, and prior to that, he worked in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Bank of America and Citibank. Frank also served as Chairman of the Steering Committee of the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. Frank is the co-author of “Export Now” (Wiley). Frank earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; an M.S. in Chinese Language from Georgetown University; an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University; and an M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Fredrik Erixon, a Swedish economist and writer, is the Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a world-economy think tank based in Brussels he co-founded in 2006 together with Professor Razeen Sally. Since then Erixon has led the development of ECIPE to become one of Brussels leading research-based institutes. One of the leading world economy think tanks in the world, ECIPE has been awarded with several prizes. In 2010 the Financial Times ranked Erixon as one of Brussels 30 most influential people. Fredrik Erixon is the author of several books and studies in the fields of international economics, economic policy, and regulatory affairs (welfare reforms, healthcare competition policy, et cetera). He has also advised several governments in Europe and the rest of the world, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. Prior to starting ECIPE, Erixon was an Adviser to the British government and the Chief Economist of Timbro, a Swedish think tank. He started his career as an economist in the Prime Ministers Office in Sweden and has later worked as an economist at the World Bank and for JP Morgan as an emerging market analyst. Erixon was educated at the University of Oxford, London School of Economics and Uppsala University.