Craig Allen, U.S. ambassador in Brunei since 2014, will become president of the U.S.-China Business Council July 26, the organization announced June 5. He will replace John Frisbie, who has led the group since 2004. Allen was posted to China in the Foreign Service, and was senior commercial officer in Beijing from 2002 to 2005, managing Commerce's staff in China from multiple agencies. He has also served as deputy assistant secretary for China at the Commerce Department and deputy assistant secretary for Asia in Commerce's International Trade Administration.
King & Spalding hired Bradford Ward, previously director of the Interagency Center on Trade Implementation, Monitoring, and Enforcement at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the law firm said in a news release. In his practice group, Government Matters, Ward will focus on international trade policy, market access and trade remedy litigation.
Steptoe & Johnson hired Arun Venkataraman, previously director of policy in the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, as trade and investment policy adviser, the law firm said in a news release.
The Electronic Components Industry Association named Alison Harris, director of international trade compliance for the Americas at Avnet, to chair the international trade compliance group for its recently formed Global Industry Practices Council. The trade compliance group "will work to identify global trade compliance issues and provide best practice guidance within the electronic components authorized channel," the ECIA said in an emailed news release.
Akin Gump hired Zachary Rudisill, previously tax counsel to Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as a partner in the firm's public law and policy practice, it said in an emailed news release. He is in the practice that focuses on domestic and international tax policy as well as international trade policy. Rudisill managed the trade portfolio for Portman, who previously served for about a year as U.S. trade representative in the George W. Bush administration.
Holland & Knight added Seth Stodder, a former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for border, immigration and trade policy, to the international trade practice, the firm said in a news release. Most recently, Stodder was CEO of consultancy Palindrome Strategies. Stodder also was head of policy at CBP during the Bush administration and helped develop the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, the law firm said.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America announced several new officers and board members at its recent annual conference in Rancho Mirage, California, it said in an emailed update. Joining Amy Magnus as new NCBFAA president (see 1805020067) are new Vice President Janet Fields of John S. James; new Treasurer Scott Larson of MOL Logistics; and new Secretary Gerald Becnel of J.W. Allen. Former NCBFAA President Geoffrey Powell will assume the role of NCBFAA chairman, the trade group said.
Hughes Hubbard hired Ryan Fayhee as a partner and head of its sanctions, export control and anti-money laundering practice, the law firm said. Fayhee, who comes from Baker McKenzie, had previously been the Justice Department’s national export control coordinator, overseeing all DOJ export control and sanctions investigations and prosecutions.
Ronald Lorentzen, former head of the Commerce Department unit that calculates antidumping and countervailing duties, joined Kelley Drye as an international trade adviser, the law firm said in a press release. Lorentzen had previously been principal deputy assistant secretary of Commerce’s Enforcement & Compliance unit for eight years.
Amy Magnus has been named president of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said A.N. Deringer, where Magnus is director-customs affairs and compliance, in an emailed news release. Magnus, most recently vice president of the NCBFAA, succeeds Geoff Powell in the role.