Aluminum Association CEO Heidi Brock is moving to become CEO of the American Forest and Paper Association, and The Aluminum Association board is looking for her successor. Brock served as CEO of the Aluminum producers' trade group for eight years. Its 120 members produce 70 percent of all aluminum and aluminum products in North America.
Monument Advocacy added Anderson Heiman, previously senior adviser for technology and trade on the technology team of Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the lobbying firm said in a news release.
Steve Francis is the new assistant director of the interagency Global Trade Investigations Division (GTID) and director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, ICE Homeland Security Investigations said in a news release. The Counter-Proliferation Investigations (CPI) Unit and the Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2) are both now part of GTID, a "newly-formed division that was created as part of a headquarters reorganization," ICE said. “With this realignment, the IPR Center is better positioned to maximize the effectiveness of its 25-agency partnerships in the fight against intellectual property theft and trade law violations,” Francis said. “We value these partnerships and the collaboration that further strengthens them.” Francis previously served as the special agent in charge of HSI operations in Michigan and Ohio and was involved in creating the Global Trade Task Force, another interagency effort (see 1903200033).
Celeste Drake, who was the trade specialist at the AFL-CIO for the last eight years, has moved to the Directors Guild of America as the top executive for government affairs. DGA National Executive Director Russell Hollander said: “Her extensive labor union, legislative and trade expertise make her uniquely suited for this role. We look forward to putting her broad experience to use advocating for our members on the critical policy issues that impact their creative and economic rights.” Intellectual property and anti-piracy legislation is important to the movie directors represented by the guild, as well as pension issues.
President Donald Trump will appoint Dow CEO James Fitterling and Joseph Nicosia of Louis Dreyfus members of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation for four-year terms, the White House said.
The National Council of Textile Organizations hired Kristi Ellis, previously a reporter with Women’s Wear Daily and S&P Global Market Intelligence, as vice president of communications, the NCTO said in a news release. The group also hired Donald Vavala, previously with NCTO member W.L. Gore, as director of regulatory and technical affairs.
The Plastics Industry Association added Bradley Hoppe, previously a marketing specialist in export finance at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service's Office of Trade Programs, as director of global packaging regulations, the group said in a news release. Hoppe will "lead the association’s regulatory and advocacy programs and projects that relate to the safety of plastic packaging," it said.
Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council who represented the U.S. during China trade talks this year, will join Akin Gump as a partner in June, the firm announced April 25. “The trade landscape has rarely been as important to companies around the world as it is now, and Clete will be an invaluable resource for clients seeking to navigate this terrain,” said Brian Pomper, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice.
Skadden Arps partner Joseph Barloon will become general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, after current general counsel Stephen Vaughn departs in a few weeks, USTR announced April 22.
The White House announced on the evening of April 11 that it is nominating Nazak Nikakhtar, the current assistant secretary of Commerce for industry and analysis, to be under secretary of Commerce for industry and security.