Maria Pagan and Andrea Durkin
Mar 17, 2022
WASHINGTON, DC – Updates from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) are aplenty as several key vacancies responsible for World Trade Organization (WTO) interaction were filled last week and another important agriculture-related vacancy was created this week.
Last Thursday, María Pagán was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to the WTO by the U.S. Senate after a monthslong hold was placed on her and another USTR nominee. Her role is a deputy position to the USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai and she’s chiefly responsible for negotiating at the WTO on behalf of the U.S. Pagán has been with USTR since 2003 and has twice served as the acting USTR during presidential transitions. She is an experienced trade negotiator, having served as lead lawyer for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement talks. She has also worked in areas including services, government procurement, and WTO disputes.
In a press statement, Ambassador Tai shared: “This job requires an ability to negotiate effectively, tell hard truths, and bring together diverse coalitions around shared values and ideals to advance U.S. economic and strategic interests. María has demonstrated all of these capabilities throughout her distinguished career.”
“One diverse coalition that we hope Ambassador Pagán will quickly assemble once she gets to Geneva is a bloc in support of meaningful agricultural reforms and another to pursue long overdue action against India’s domestic supports on rice,” said Bobby Hanks, Louisiana rice miller and chair of USA Rice and the USA Rice International Trade Policy Committee.
Similar to Pagán’s role, Andrea Durkin was named last week as the Assistant USTR for WTO and Multilateral Affairs, a career position that is also responsible for WTO negotiations and serving as the U.S. liaison to international organizations and coalitions. Durkin previously worked at USTR from 2001 to 2004, serving as director for multilateral trade and environment policy and head of Central America. In these roles, she oversaw the launch of free trade agreement negotiations with Panama and the Dominican Republic. Durkin also worked for the International Trade Administration, where she led sectoral initiatives at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, as well as the Commerce Department.
“While neither of these new leaders at USTR have agriculture-specific portfolios, both of them will be key in representing agricultural interests at the WTO and in future trade negotiations while closely working with USTR’s Agricultural Office,” said Hanks. “USA Rice is pleased to have two experienced people take on these roles at such a critical time. They should have no problem hitting the ground running.”
In an unfortunate turn of events, USTR’s Ag Negotiator nominee, Elaine Trevino, was withdrawn from consideration by the Biden Administration for unknown reasons. Trevino was nominated for the position in September 2021 but a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing was never scheduled. The Administration will now go back to the drawing board to seek a new candidate to be nominated for the role.
“It seems that Elaine will land elsewhere within the Administration to work on supply chain issues, which we definitely need,” said Hanks. “However, I can’t stress enough how important it is that the President nominate a USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Agricultural Affairs and the USTR Agriculture Negotiator.”
President Biden assumed office 421 days ago.