WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today announced the appointment of Katy Mastman as Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Labor.
“Katy’s expertise and experience in domestic and international labor policy, from the U.S. Department of Labor to USTR, have been invaluable to our progress in implementing President Biden’s inclusive, worker-centered trade agenda. I look forward to working with Katy in this new capacity as we continue to empower workers and strengthen the middle class,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “As we welcome Katy into this new role, we must say farewell to Josh Kagan. Josh embodies our collective commitment to putting workers first and including their voices and perspectives in our trade policies. Josh’s leadership has been instrumental in our successful use of the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism and work to eradicate forced labor in supply chains. I want to thank him for his tireless work and dedication at USTR and wish him the best as he embarks on this new chapter.”
Katy Mastman Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Labor
Katy Mastman will serve as Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Labor Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Labor Office is responsible for developing and implementing U.S. trade policy related to labor issues and workers’ rights.
Ms. Mastman oversees labor and trade issues for USTR, including serving as chief negotiator of labor provisions in multilateral, regional, and bilateral free trade arrangements, formulating recommendations concerning countries’ adherence to worker rights provisions of U.S. trade preference programs, and developing U.S. trade and labor policy positions in numerous international bodies. Among her U.S. government interagency representational roles, she co-chairs the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement pursuant to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Act and represents USTR as a principal on the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. Katy previously worked in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor and most recently as the Deputy Director of the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs in the International Labor Affairs Bureau. Katy holds a J.D. from the NYU School of Law, where she was a Root Tilden Kern Scholar in the Public Interest and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Review of Law & Social Change. She earned a B.A., with Honors, in Community Health and Political Science from Brown University and is married with two children.
###
