[CTC] Democrats Call for Excluding Japan From Asia Free-Trade Talks

[Mark Harrison]

http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2013/march/kirk-announces-deputy-ustr-marantis-will-serve

Kirk Announces Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Marantis To Serve As  
Acting USTR
03/14/2013

Ambassador Ron Kirk Vacates Post After Four Years of Service in Obama  
Cabinet

Washington, DC – Departing U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk  
announced today that Deputy United States Trade Representative  
Demetrios Marantis will assume the post of Acting United States Trade  
Representative effective Friday, March 15, 2013, as Ambassador Kirk  
departs his position after four years of service in President Obama’s  
Cabinet.

Marantis, confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Deputy USTR in May 2009, has  
been responsible for U.S. trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia  
and Africa, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Asia  
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the U.S.-China Joint  
Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), the U.S.-India Trade Policy  
Forum, and Trade and Investment Framework Agreements with countries  
ranging from South Africa to the Philippines. Ambassador Marantis also  
leads USTR global initiatives on trade and the environment, as well as  
trade and development, including the administration of the African  
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of  
Preferences (GSP) program. As Deputy USTR, Ambassador Marantis played  
a central role in the negotiation and congressional passage of the  
U.S.-Korea trade agreement, which entered into force on March 15,  
2012. He also spearheaded conclusion in APEC of the first-ever  
agreement to reduce tariffs on environmental goods.

“Demetrios has been a leading voice for President Obama’s trade  
policies in Asia and Africa, and he has been instrumental in successes  
from the completion of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement to the advancing  
of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and beyond,” said Ambassador Kirk. “I  
have valued Demetrios’s contributions and counsel during my time as  
USTR, and his expertise and leadership abilities will bolster this  
agency’s work for the American people and in the global trading  
community at this time of transition.”

Before joining the Administration, Ambassador Marantis served as Chief  
International Trade Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee.  
Ambassador Marantis joined the committee in February 2005 after  
serving as Issues Director on the Kerry-Edwards 2004 presidential  
campaign.

Ambassador Marantis spent two years in Hanoi as Chief Legal Advisor  
for the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, providing technical assistance on  
international trade matters. Between 1998 and 2002, he served as  
Associate General Counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade  
Representative where he negotiated provisions of international trade  
agreements and represented the United States in WTO dispute settlement  
proceedings. He also worked for five years in the Washington, D.C. and  
Brussels, Belgium offices of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20130314/a7e03333/attachment-0003.htm>