GSIPM

Mark your calendars: Rufus Yerxa and Demetrios Marantis to Guest Lecture for Spring Colloquium on February 7, 3-5pm!

GSIPM is pleased to announce the second Spring Colloquium guest speaker event, featuring Rufus Yerxa and Demetrios Marantis. During the discussion, participants will hear from field experts on Economic Diplomacy and Tradecraft in the Global Trading System

Event Details:

Who: Rufus Yerxa and Demetrios Marantis

Lecture topic and key considerations:

Economic Diplomacy and Tradecraft in the Global Trading System

• How does the U.S. play in a G-20 System?
• How does the Private Sector fit into the System?
• How Will The Exercise Of Economic Statecraft Change?
• How the Global Trading System and What Will It Look Like in 2025?

When: February 7, 3-5pm

Where: Morse Building, Room B104

Speaker Profiles:

Rufus Yerxa:

Rufus Yerxa joined MIIS as a visiting professor in October 2013, having recently completed more than a decade of service as Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. As the organization’s second ranking official, he helped to broaden the WTO’s membership and strengthen its role as the principal rules-based institution governing world trade.

Prior to joining the WTO, Mr. Yerxa worked as a senior U.S. government trade official, Congressional staff advisor and private lawyer. He served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, first as the Geneva-based Ambassador to the GATT (the predecessor organization to the WTO) and subsequently as the Deputy United States Trade Representative in Washington.  He was a leading figure in the effort to negotiate and secure Congressional approval of both the NAFTA agreement and the Uruguay Round/WTO agreement.

Yerxa was also with the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Trade. After leaving the U.S. government he joined the law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he was a resident partner in the firm’s Brussels office.

Demetrios Marantis:

Ambassador Demetrios Marantis heads Square’s International Policy and Regulatory Affairs work.  Founded in 2009, and headquartered in San Francisco, Square has developed a portable credit card application and technology, and is an online marketplace.

Prior to joining Square in May 2013, Marantis served as Acting United States Trade Representative and Deputy United States Trade Representative and was nominated for this position by President Barack Obama.  As Deputy USTR, he was 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.  He played a central role in the negotiation and congressional passage of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement and spearheaded conclusion in APEC of the first-ever agreement to reduce tariffs on environmental goods.

In his earlier career, Marantis served as Chief International Trade Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee.  He advised Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, as well as members and staff of the Finance Committee and Democratic Caucus, on trade and economic issues.

Marantis also worked in Hanoi as Chief Legal Advisor for the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council where he provided 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.

This event is free of charge and open to the public. To RSVP to attend this speaker, please email Erina McWilliam-Lopez at emcwilliam@miis.edu by Thursday 2/6/2014.

To learn more about the colloquium, please visit the Colloquium Landing Page.

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