WASHINGTON – Ambassador Katherine Tai today released the following statement after President Biden announced his intent to nominate María L. Pagán as Deputy United States Trade Representative (Geneva Office) and Christopher Wilson, Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
“María Pagán and Christopher Wilson have valuable experience that is needed at USTR during a critical moment for the country, and the world. Through nearly three decades of public service, María Pagán has proven to be a shrewd negotiator with an unparalleled knowledge of our trade agreements that will serve the United States well as we re-establish relationships with our trading partners and work to reform the World Trade Organization.
“Christopher Wilson’s experience shaping trade policy for more than two decades in a variety of critical regional and policy leadership roles at USTR makes him uniquely qualified to fill this important new position as the Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator. If confirmed by the Senate, these two trade policy experts, who have demonstrated their dedication through their careers as civil servants, will represent the American people with honor and distinction as we advance President Biden’s vision to increase American competitiveness and Build Back Better.”
Biographical Information:
Maria Luisa Pagán, Nominee for Deputy United States Trade Representative (Geneva Office)
María L. Pagán has spent almost three decades as a trade lawyer in the U.S. government. She is currently the Deputy General Counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. In that role, she provides legal advice to senior USTR officials on all legal aspects regarding trade negotiations, implementation of trade agreements, and trade related legislation and regulations. She has been the lead U.S. attorney for numerous trade agreement negotiations. She was the lead lawyer for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, handling the legal aspects of the negotiation, as well as the implementation package that passed Congress in early 2020.
Before becoming Deputy General Counsel, she specialized in providing legal advice on services, government procurement, and the section 421 country-specific safeguard, and also litigated several disputes before the WTO. Prior to joining USTR in 2003, Ms. Pagán worked as an attorney advisor in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ms. Pagán was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and resides in Maryland. She received her law degree and a Master’s in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and a B.A. from Tufts University.
Christopher Wilson, Nominee for Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Christopher Wilson is a 20-year veteran of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where he has served in a variety of trade policy leadership roles, including Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and Intellectual Property (2006-2008) and several Assistant U.S. Trade Representative positions. Wilson’s USTR experience encompasses periods focused on regional trade relationships with Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, and South and Central Asia.
He has represented USTR at the U.S. Mission to the European Union, and at the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization as Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative. Prior to his USTR service, Wilson worked at the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration and as a State Department Foreign Service Officer (with assignments in Africa and Southeast Asia).
He also spent several years consulting on trade policy issues in the private sector. A native of Kansas and longtime resident of Washington, D.C., Wilson is married to Mark Hegedus.
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