Today, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk hosted the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) meeting. Ambassador Kirk, along with USTR senior officials, briefed ACTPN members on various trade issues and topics. Among the items discussed were the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the importance of the pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama and Trade Adjustment Assistance. ACTPN members were also briefed on the United States’ engagement with China and India, as well as USTR’s work on enforcing trade agreements.
Ambassador Kirk Hosts ACTPN Meeting
ACTPN members listened to various speakers including Cabinet member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman. Additionally, Ambassadors Demetrios Marantis and Miriam Sapiro provided updates and listened to members’ opinions and thoughts.
ACTPN is a presidentially appointed and statutorily created volunteer advisory committee that provides advice to the United States Trade Representative. The group is part of the advisory committee system. It was established by the U.S. Congress in 1974 with the purpose to ensure that U.S. trade policy and trade-negotiating objectives adequately reflect U.S. public and private sector interests. The advisory committee system consists of 28 advisory committees, with a total membership of approximately 700 citizen advisors.
