17
Jun
By Eric Schweibenz
On June 17, 2014, the ITC issued two press releases announcing that President Barack Obama has designated (1) Meredith Broadbent as Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, and (2) Dean Pinkert as Vice Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission.

According to the press release regarding Chairman Broadbent:

President Barack Obama has designated Meredith M. Broadbent, a Republican of Virginia, as Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) for the term June 17, 2014, through June 16, 2016.

Broadbent was nominated to the USITC by President Barack Obama on November 8, 2011. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2, 2012, and was sworn in on September 10, 2012, for the Commission term expiring on June 16, 2017.

Broadbent held the William M. Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from October 2010 until her appointment.

From 2003 to 2008, she served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access, and Telecommunications. In that position, she was responsible for developing U.S. policy that affected trade in industrial goods, telecommunications, and e-commerce. She led the U.S. negotiating team for the Doha Round negotiations to reduce tariff and nontariff barriers on industrial goods and successfully concluded an innovative plurilateral trade agreement with the European Union, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. She also directed an administration initiative to reform the Generalized System of Preferences program for developing countries.

From 2009 to 2010 she was a Trade Advisor at the Global Business Dialogue, a multinational business association focused on international trade and investment issues.

Earlier in her career, Broadbent served as a senior professional staff member on the Republican staff of the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives. In that position, she drafted and managed major portions of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, legislation to authorize normal trade relations with China, and the Trade Act of 2002, which included trade promotion authority and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.

Prior to that, she served as professional staff for the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, where she was instrumental in the development and House passage of the implementing bills for the North American Free Trade Agreement and Uruguay Round Agreements.

Broadbent holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from in history from Middlebury College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she is married to Charles Riedel, has two sons, Charles and William, and resides in McLean, Virginia.

The USITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. Commissioners are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for nine-year terms, unless they are appointed to fill unexpired terms. The Chairman and the Vice Chairman are designated by the President for two-year terms in those positions.

According to the press release regarding Vice Chairman Pinkert:

President Barack Obama has designated Dean A. Pinkert, a Democrat of Virginia, as Vice Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) for the term June 17, 2014, through June 16, 2016.

Pinkert was nominated to the USITC by President George W. Bush on September 7, 2006; renominated on January 9, 2007; and confirmed by the Senate on February 1, 2007. He was sworn in on February 26, 2007, for the Commission term expiring on December 16, 2015.

Prior to his appointment, Pinkert was a senior attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that position, his work included serving as liaison with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, counsel to the Foreign Trade Zone program, advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative in various trade negotiations (including those leading to the 2006 softwood lumber agreement), and litigation counsel in antidumping and countervailing duty matters before domestic and international tribunals. Pinkert was an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration at an earlier stage of his career.

Between his Commerce Department positions, during 2001, Pinkert served as the Trade and Judiciary Counsel to Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV). From 1998 through 2000, Pinkert was a senior associate in the Litigation and Trade group in the Washington, DC, office of King & Spalding, where he represented U.S. companies in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. He also handled, and supervised, export control matters for the group.

Pinkert holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors from Oberlin College; a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of Texas School of Law; and a Master of Laws degree with merit from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The USITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. Commissioners are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for nine-year terms, unless they are appointed to fill unexpired terms. The Chairman and the Vice Chairman are designated by the President for two-year terms in those positions.