Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles
Dr. Laurie-Ann Agama serves as the Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles. In this capacity, she is responsible for advising the U.S. Trade Representative on textile and apparel trade policy matters, conducting and overseeing negotiations affecting textile and apparel products, and working to expand the industry’s access to foreign markets.
Dr. Agama has over twenty years of experience with the U.S. government. She has served as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Economic Affairs in the Office of Trade Policy and Economics since 2012. In this role, she has led USTR’s strategic planning processes and provided economic advice for the development of U.S. trade policy and its implementation, and bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. She also conducted statistical and economic analyses for dispute settlement cases and to resolve various trade policy and investment-related issues.
She joined USTR in 2004 serving as a Director in the Office of African Affairs. In that role, she supported the development of bilateral and multilateral initiatives to enhance U.S. trade and investment relations with the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including the implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Prior to her work at USTR, Dr. Agama served as an International Economist within the Office of Economics at the United States International Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004, where she conducted economic research analyses and provided trade advice to the USTR and Congress. She was an adjunct professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio from 1998 to 2001.
Dr. Agama holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in Economics from McGill University, is a recipient of USTR’s Superior Achievement Award and is an International Career Advancement Program (ICAP) Fellow.
