Thursday, December 11, 2025 | The National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
The 2025 Trade & Competition Policy Forum, hosted by The Capitol Forum, will convene leading trade lawyers, policymakers, economists, strategists, and in-house counsels to examine the shifting dynamics of global trade, competition, and sustainability in an era of economic realignment.
Through keynote addresses and panel discussions, participants will explore how new policy developments—from the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) review to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive—are reshaping the global economy and redefining cross-border compliance, supply chain management, and labor standards.
The morning sessions will focus on U.S. trade developments and enforcement trends, while the afternoon will turn to European initiatives and the region’s evolving relationships with both the United States and China.
Keynote Conversation with Ambassador Katherine Tai, former United States Trade Representative
Future of USMCA – How each party’s objectives and leverage will play into negotiations
The End of De Minimis – Implications for e-commerce, global markets, and trade equity in the U.S. and Europe
CBAM, Supply Chains, and Corporate Sustainability in the EU – The next phase of climate and human-rights accountability in global trade
Navigating U.S.–China Rivalry – Europe’s strategic balancing act in an era of industrial policy and investment screening
Please view the full agenda for detailed session descriptions and speaker updates.
Speakers will be announced in November. We encourage you to add this event to your calendar and stay tuned for updates throughout the month.
For questions or partnership opportunities, please contact events@tcfpress.com.
Add event to calendar
Teddy Downey – Founder, CEO & Executive Editor, The Capitol Forum; Host of The Second Request Podcast
For more than 14 years, Teddy Downey has led The Capitol Forum, guiding its growth into a leading source for investigative reporting on antitrust, trade, and regulatory policy. Named one of Washington, D.C.’s “500 Most Influential People” by Washingtonian magazine in 2024, he also hosts The Second Request podcast, where he speaks with policymakers, attorneys, and industry leaders about competition strategy and enforcement trends. Downey previously served as Senior Vice President at MF Global’s Washington Research Group and holds a B.A. from Columbia University.
Ambassador Katherine Tai, Former United States Trade Representative — 2025 Trade Policy Conference Keynote Speaker
Ambassador Katherine Tai is an expert in international economic policy and diplomacy who has dedicated her career to advancing fair, people-centered trade policies on the global stage. As the 19th United States Trade Representative and a member of President Biden’s Cabinet (2021–2025), she served as the nation’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson. Her leadership shaped the first worker-centered trade agenda in U.S. history, strengthening labor rights and promoting inclusive economic growth through U.S. engagement at the World Trade Organization, G20, G7, and other international forums.
Before her unanimous Senate confirmation, Ambassador Tai spent nearly two decades in public service focused on U.S. and international trade law. As Chief Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, she helped negotiate and secure passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), building on her earlier work at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where she served as Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, she is fluent in Mandarin and began her career teaching in Guangzhou, China before entering public service.
Ms. Baltzan is a Senior Advisor at the Capitol Forum.
Previously, she served as Counselor for Trade and Investment to Ambassador Katherine Tai, President Biden’s United States Trade Representative. Ms. Baltzan served as an attorney at USTR from 2003 to 2009.
In 2009, Ms. Baltzan joined the Office of International Affairs at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, working on oversight in the wake of the financial crisis. In 2012, the PCAOB detailed her to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where she investigated banking practices. Ms. Baltzan then served as Democratic Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee from 2012 to 2016.
After returning to USTR to work on litigation matters, in 2017 Ms. Baltzan formed her own trade consultancy practice. She was also a fellow at the Open Markets Institute.
Ms. Baltzan received her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, with honors, from Stanford University.
Ms. Sopinska is a Senior Correspondent based in Brussels, covering trade policy in Europe.
Before joining the publication, she worked as Global Trade Correspondent at MLex in Brussels, focusing on regulatory risks and the impact of EU trade policies on businesses. She previously reported on trade for EU Trade Insights (2015-2017) and spent nine years at Europolitics, covering EU trade policy and regulatory affairs.
Ms. Sopinska holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Łódź and an MA in European Affairsfrom the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht.
Ms. Monicken is a Senior Correspondent covering U.S. trade policy for The Capitol Forum.
Prior to joining the publication, she spent seven years at Inside U.S. Trade, a leading trade policy publication, where she reported on trade through three U.S. administrations, two World Trade Organization ministerial meetings and numerous bilateral, trilateral and plurilateral negotiations. Before focusing on trade policy, she covered the education beat for her hometown paper in Bismarck, North Dakota, and worked in community journalism in Washington, D.C. She now lives in Minneapolis.
Mr. Tracey is a Correspondent covering international trade policy and its impact on businesses, consumers, and workers. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission as a paralegal on congressional oversight, as a research assistant for competition and industrial policy at the Centre for Competition Policy, and as an intern at The Capitol Forum.
Mr. Tracey holds a bachelor’s in Government and Economics from Georgetown University and a master’s in Economics from the University of East Anglia, where he was a Fulbright scholar.
Dan Cannistra is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he advises domestic and international clients on a wide range of international trade matters, with a particular focus on trade remedies, legislative and executive branch engagement, and complex regulatory issues. He has participated in more than 75 antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings before the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission under the Tariff Act of 1930, and has litigated appeals before the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, NAFTA binational panels, and the World Trade Organization.
Dan’s practice also spans international jurisdictions, including representing clients in trade remedy proceedings in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Thailand, Singapore, Guatemala, and Taiwan.
Before joining Crowell & Moring, Dan served as a director at a national accounting firm, advising multinational clients on customs compliance, trade remedy strategy, free trade agreements, valuation, and global supply chain issues.
His government appointments include service on the U.S. Trade Representative’s roster of trade practitioners for NAFTA antidumping dispute resolution. He has also provided the European Commission, and the governments of Guatemala and Singapore, with technical advice and training on international trade law and WTO-consistent antidumping rules.
Patrick T. Childress is an international trade and disputes attorney at Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C., advising corporations, governments, and global stakeholders on trade policy, enforcement actions, government investigations, and treaty negotiations. A former attorney at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, he advised senior officials across both Republican and Democratic administrations, led U.S. delegations in negotiations with key trading partners, and served as USTR’s lead attorney for Canada, Mexico, and the USMCA.
Patrick also has significant experience in international arbitration, representing corporate and sovereign clients in high-value disputes worldwide, and is widely cited on trade issues in major media outlets including CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, and ABC News.
Mark A. DiPlacido is a policy professional specializing in issues related to trade and tariffs, labor markets, and broader economic policy. He worked in the first Trump administration at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. He is currently a policy advisor at American Compass and previously worked in government relations at The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action and as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate. He graduated from Yale University in 2015 with a B.A. in history and was born and raised in Erie, PA.
Kimberly Glas joined the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) in May 2019 as President and CEO. NCTO represents the broad spectrum of the domestic textile industry from fiber to finished products. She has over 20 years of experience in government policy development and advocacy. Kim also serves as an appointed Commissioner to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Her multi-faceted career includes spearheading manufacturing and trade policy efforts on Capitol Hill, serving as a key leader on behalf of the textile industry, and previously leading a non-profit organization, BlueGreen Alliance, engaged in advancing critical policies to grow quality, U.S. jobs in the clean energy economy.
Kim served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Materials at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, she worked to improve the domestic and international competitiveness of the broad product range of U.S. industries, including fiber, textiles, apparel, footwear, consumer goods, metals and mining, forest products, and chemicals. She also served as the chairman for the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, which supervises the negotiation and implementation of textile and apparel agreements. Kim served for a decade on Capitol Hill working extensively on manufacturing, trade, and economic policy issues. She earned a B.A. in History and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Jacob Jensen is the Trade Policy Analyst at the American Action Forum. Jacob specializes in statistical analysis of economic data, primarily tracking developments in international trade. He also focuses on industrial policy and has research interest in BRICS and monetary policy.
Jacob was previously an international economics intern at AAF and has prior experience at Lincoln Financial Group as an insurance claims analyst. He graduated from Wake Forest University in May 2024 with a B.S. in economics and minor in global trade as well as a B.S. in business enterprise management with a concentration in international business.
Kevin Keller is a historian of law and economic growth. He is a Visiting Fellow in East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and a Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His research examines how China’s economic growth has transformed the global economic order.
Mr. Keller began his career in international development. He then earned his JD from Harvard Law School and is currently completing a PhD in History at Yale. His work has appeared in leading journals, including the American Journal of Comparative Law and the Harvard Law Review.
Yves Melin is an international trade and customs lawyer based in Brussels with more than 20 years of experience advising companies on EU customs law, trade defense, sanctions, and border adjustment mechanisms. He has represented clients in over 100 EU trade defense investigations and more than 30 cases before EU courts, including the landmark Ikea Wholesale decision.
Yves is the founder of Greenlane.eu, an alliance of specialized customs practitioners across the EU, and serves as Vice President of CONFIAD and a member of the European Commission’s Trade Contact Group. He is widely recognized as a leading EU trade and customs expert by Chambers, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers.
Mike Mullen is the Executive Director of the Express Association of America (EAA), representing the legislative, regulatory, and trade interests of the express delivery and logistics industry. He advocates for expedited, cross-border transportation and warehousing services and engages with Congress and federal agencies on policies governing the movement of goods into and out of the United States.
Under his leadership, EAA partners closely with U.S. regulatory and security agencies to facilitate efficient, secure international commerce and ensure the safety and compliance of goods moving across borders.
Kelly M. Fay Rodríguez was the U.S. special representative for international labor affairs from 2022 to 2025. She is co-founder and principal of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice and a senior fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as guest lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She also leads a new Competence Center for Human Rights Due Diligence.
Dennis Shea served as the United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization from 2018 to 2021, representing the U.S. in negotiations and dispute settlement proceedings during a pivotal period in global trade policy. He currently serves as Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and as a non-resident Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
Melinda St. Louis is the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, where she leads advocacy and analysis on international trade and investment policy. With more than two decades of experience working alongside labor, farmer, and civil society organizations globally — including in Latin America — she has championed alternatives to corporate-driven globalization that prioritize workers, public health, and the environment. St. Louis has provided expert analysis to Congress, senior policymakers, media, and international partners, and has helped lead major campaigns including efforts to halt the Trans-Pacific Partnership, advance discussions at the WTO on financial regulation, and support governments exiting harmful investor-state dispute settlement regimes.
She is a widely respected coalition builder, fostering broad partnerships across the global South and within the United States on issues ranging from medicine pricing and financial regulation to labor rights, environmental protection, and food safety. Prior to leading Global Trade Watch, St. Louis directed Public Citizen’s Medicare for All campaign and also served as policy director at the Jubilee USA Network and executive director of Witness for Peace. She holds an M.P.P. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Penn State University, and has been featured in major U.S. and international media outlets.
Audrey Stienonis the industrial policy program manager at Open Markets Institute. Audrey has a decade of experience addressing questions of how to develop economic strategies, policies, and institutions that advance democratic economic governance and other societal priorities. She previously worked as an associate at Omidyar Network, and as an economist at the World Bank, where she contributed to research on jobs and industries in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China.
Her work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Monthly, Tech Policy Press, Competition Policy International, and the American Prospect. Audrey is a Truman National Security Fellow, and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Hunter College, and an M.A. in International Economics and Development from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Jeff Vogt is the Director of the Solidarity Center’s Rule of Law department and Chair of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network, a global community of more than 1,300 labor rights attorneys in over 90 countries. He leads international legal strategies to protect workers’ rights, strengthen collective bargaining and the right to strike, and challenge anti-worker policies and practices in courts and international bodies.
Previously, Vogt served as Legal Director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), where he represented workers before the International Labour Organization and led global efforts to defend labor rights under trade and investment agreements. Under his leadership, the ILAW Network has advanced groundbreaking litigation and cross-border legal cooperation, helping establish new precedents to protect platform workers, expand collective bargaining rights, and advance gender equity and parental leave in labor law systems around the world.
Jared Wessel is an international trade attorney with extensive experience in trade remedies, public international law, and the intersection of trade and labor rights. He has represented clients in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, Section 301 and Section 232 matters, and disputes before the World Trade Organization and under NAFTA/USMCA. He also advises on international economic policy issues, including the USMCA’s rapid response labor mechanism and the environmental dimensions of trade agreements.
From 2011 to 2015, Wessel served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Trade Representative, where he successfully argued two cases before the WTO Appellate Body and served as a lead negotiator on market access issues with China and on the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Earlier in his career, he practiced at a global law firm, advised the Permanent Mission of Palau to the United Nations on legal and national security matters, and clerked for Judge Jane R. Roth on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Mike Williams is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where his work centers on advancing policies that create and retain high-quality, union jobs while accelerating the transition to a clean economy. He previously spent more than a decade helping build and lead the BlueGreen Alliance, ultimately serving as deputy director. In that role, he guided strategy, coalition partnerships, and advocacy efforts across climate, manufacturing, energy, and labor policy, and represented the organization at United Nations climate negotiations from Copenhagen through Paris. He also led key initiatives such as the successful Buy Clean campaign to strengthen domestic clean manufacturing.
Earlier in his career, Williams served in the office of Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), working on energy, transportation, and environmental policy and contributing to the Climate MATTERS Act. He also held policy roles at the National Wildlife Federation. Williams holds an M.P.P. from George Washington University and a B.A. from Boston University.
National Press Club
Address: 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045
On the Web: https://www.press.org
Venue & Location:
Located in the historic National Press Building, the Club sits in the heart of downtown Washington, DC—just steps from the White House and a short walk from the National Mall. The venue is one block from Metro Center station (Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver lines) for easy public transit access, and a quick drive from Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Union Station (Amtrak).
Map: View on Google Maps
Questions? Contact The Capitol Forum team at info@thecapitolforum-news.com.
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Conference Agenda
10:00–10:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks and Keynote Address
Remarks from The Capitol Forum leadership and a keynote address.
10:35–11:30 a.m. | Panel 1: Future of USMCA
The panel will explore what each party hopes to achieve with the negotiations and what leverage they have. The panel will examine the push to strengthen rules of origin, dispute settlement, and the future of labor rights in the agreement.
11:35 a.m.–12:35 p.m. | Panel 2: The End of De Minimis in the U.S. and its Future in Europe
Panelists will discuss how online retailers are navigating the end of de minimis in the U.S., the impact on global markets, and growing pressure for reform in Europe. The conversation will discuss how the end of de minimis intersects with labor and consumer protection issues.
12:35–1:30 p.m. | Lunch and a Conversation
A fireside conversation on the future of U.S. trade leadership, the role of Congress in shaping trade priorities, and lessons from the USMCA’s labor enforcement agenda.
1:35–2:35 p.m. | Panel 3: CBAM, Supply Chains, and Corporate Sustainability in the EU
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive are redefining how companies account for environmental and human rights risks in their operations. This panel will unpack how European policymakers are negotiating pushback from companies and the Trump administration.
2:40–3:40 p.m. | Panel 4: Navigating U.S.–China Rivalry and Europe’s Strategic Balancing Act
As geopolitical competition intensifies, Europe faces growing pressure to reconcile transatlantic alignment with its own strategic autonomy. This panel will explore how U.S. and EU trade and competition policies are evolving amid concerns over subsidies, investment screening, and supply chain resilience.
3:40–4:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks
Reflections on the day’s discussions and a look ahead to The Capitol Forum’s ongoing coverage of global trade and competition policy.
Thursday, December 11, 2025 | The National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
The 2025 Trade & Competition Policy Forum, hosted by The Capitol Forum, will convene leading trade lawyers, policymakers, economists, strategists, and in-house counsels to examine the shifting dynamics of global trade, competition, and sustainability in an era of economic realignment.
Through keynote addresses and panel discussions, participants will explore how new policy developments—from the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) review to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive—are reshaping the global economy and redefining cross-border compliance, supply chain management, and labor standards.
The morning sessions will focus on U.S. trade developments and enforcement trends, while the afternoon will turn to European initiatives and the region’s evolving relationships with both the United States and China.
Keynote Conversation with Ambassador Katherine Tai, former United States Trade Representative
Future of USMCA – How each party’s objectives and leverage will play into negotiations
The End of De Minimis – Implications for e-commerce, global markets, and trade equity in the U.S. and Europe
CBAM, Supply Chains, and Corporate Sustainability in the EU – The next phase of climate and human-rights accountability in global trade
Navigating U.S.–China Rivalry – Europe’s strategic balancing act in an era of industrial policy and investment screening
Please view the full agenda for detailed session descriptions and speaker updates.
Speakers will be announced in November. We encourage you to add this event to your calendar and stay tuned for updates throughout the month.
For questions or partnership opportunities, please contact events@tcfpress.com.
Add event to calendar
Teddy Downey – Founder, CEO & Executive Editor, The Capitol Forum; Host of The Second Request Podcast
For more than 14 years, Teddy Downey has led The Capitol Forum, guiding its growth into a leading source for investigative reporting on antitrust, trade, and regulatory policy. Named one of Washington, D.C.’s “500 Most Influential People” by Washingtonian magazine in 2024, he also hosts The Second Request podcast, where he speaks with policymakers, attorneys, and industry leaders about competition strategy and enforcement trends. Downey previously served as Senior Vice President at MF Global’s Washington Research Group and holds a B.A. from Columbia University.
Ambassador Katherine Tai, Former United States Trade Representative — 2025 Trade Policy Conference Keynote Speaker
Ambassador Katherine Tai is an expert in international economic policy and diplomacy who has dedicated her career to advancing fair, people-centered trade policies on the global stage. As the 19th United States Trade Representative and a member of President Biden’s Cabinet (2021–2025), she served as the nation’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson. Her leadership shaped the first worker-centered trade agenda in U.S. history, strengthening labor rights and promoting inclusive economic growth through U.S. engagement at the World Trade Organization, G20, G7, and other international forums.
Before her unanimous Senate confirmation, Ambassador Tai spent nearly two decades in public service focused on U.S. and international trade law. As Chief Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, she helped negotiate and secure passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), building on her earlier work at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where she served as Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, she is fluent in Mandarin and began her career teaching in Guangzhou, China before entering public service.
Ms. Baltzan is a Senior Advisor at the Capitol Forum.
Previously, she served as Counselor for Trade and Investment to Ambassador Katherine Tai, President Biden’s United States Trade Representative. Ms. Baltzan served as an attorney at USTR from 2003 to 2009.
In 2009, Ms. Baltzan joined the Office of International Affairs at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, working on oversight in the wake of the financial crisis. In 2012, the PCAOB detailed her to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where she investigated banking practices. Ms. Baltzan then served as Democratic Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee from 2012 to 2016.
After returning to USTR to work on litigation matters, in 2017 Ms. Baltzan formed her own trade consultancy practice. She was also a fellow at the Open Markets Institute.
Ms. Baltzan received her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, with honors, from Stanford University.
Ms. Sopinska is a Senior Correspondent based in Brussels, covering trade policy in Europe.
Before joining the publication, she worked as Global Trade Correspondent at MLex in Brussels, focusing on regulatory risks and the impact of EU trade policies on businesses. She previously reported on trade for EU Trade Insights (2015-2017) and spent nine years at Europolitics, covering EU trade policy and regulatory affairs.
Ms. Sopinska holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Łódź and an MA in European Affairsfrom the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht.
Ms. Monicken is a Senior Correspondent covering U.S. trade policy for The Capitol Forum.
Prior to joining the publication, she spent seven years at Inside U.S. Trade, a leading trade policy publication, where she reported on trade through three U.S. administrations, two World Trade Organization ministerial meetings and numerous bilateral, trilateral and plurilateral negotiations. Before focusing on trade policy, she covered the education beat for her hometown paper in Bismarck, North Dakota, and worked in community journalism in Washington, D.C. She now lives in Minneapolis.
Mr. Tracey is a Correspondent covering international trade policy and its impact on businesses, consumers, and workers. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission as a paralegal on congressional oversight, as a research assistant for competition and industrial policy at the Centre for Competition Policy, and as an intern at The Capitol Forum.
Mr. Tracey holds a bachelor’s in Government and Economics from Georgetown University and a master’s in Economics from the University of East Anglia, where he was a Fulbright scholar.
Dan Cannistra is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he advises domestic and international clients on a wide range of international trade matters, with a particular focus on trade remedies, legislative and executive branch engagement, and complex regulatory issues. He has participated in more than 75 antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings before the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission under the Tariff Act of 1930, and has litigated appeals before the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, NAFTA binational panels, and the World Trade Organization.
Dan’s practice also spans international jurisdictions, including representing clients in trade remedy proceedings in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Thailand, Singapore, Guatemala, and Taiwan.
Before joining Crowell & Moring, Dan served as a director at a national accounting firm, advising multinational clients on customs compliance, trade remedy strategy, free trade agreements, valuation, and global supply chain issues.
His government appointments include service on the U.S. Trade Representative’s roster of trade practitioners for NAFTA antidumping dispute resolution. He has also provided the European Commission, and the governments of Guatemala and Singapore, with technical advice and training on international trade law and WTO-consistent antidumping rules.
Patrick T. Childress is an international trade and disputes attorney at Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C., advising corporations, governments, and global stakeholders on trade policy, enforcement actions, government investigations, and treaty negotiations. A former attorney at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, he advised senior officials across both Republican and Democratic administrations, led U.S. delegations in negotiations with key trading partners, and served as USTR’s lead attorney for Canada, Mexico, and the USMCA.
Patrick also has significant experience in international arbitration, representing corporate and sovereign clients in high-value disputes worldwide, and is widely cited on trade issues in major media outlets including CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, and ABC News.
Mark A. DiPlacido is a policy professional specializing in issues related to trade and tariffs, labor markets, and broader economic policy. He worked in the first Trump administration at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. He is currently a policy advisor at American Compass and previously worked in government relations at The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action and as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate. He graduated from Yale University in 2015 with a B.A. in history and was born and raised in Erie, PA.
Kimberly Glas joined the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) in May 2019 as President and CEO. NCTO represents the broad spectrum of the domestic textile industry from fiber to finished products. She has over 20 years of experience in government policy development and advocacy. Kim also serves as an appointed Commissioner to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Her multi-faceted career includes spearheading manufacturing and trade policy efforts on Capitol Hill, serving as a key leader on behalf of the textile industry, and previously leading a non-profit organization, BlueGreen Alliance, engaged in advancing critical policies to grow quality, U.S. jobs in the clean energy economy.
Kim served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Materials at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, she worked to improve the domestic and international competitiveness of the broad product range of U.S. industries, including fiber, textiles, apparel, footwear, consumer goods, metals and mining, forest products, and chemicals. She also served as the chairman for the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, which supervises the negotiation and implementation of textile and apparel agreements. Kim served for a decade on Capitol Hill working extensively on manufacturing, trade, and economic policy issues. She earned a B.A. in History and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Jacob Jensen is the Trade Policy Analyst at the American Action Forum. Jacob specializes in statistical analysis of economic data, primarily tracking developments in international trade. He also focuses on industrial policy and has research interest in BRICS and monetary policy.
Jacob was previously an international economics intern at AAF and has prior experience at Lincoln Financial Group as an insurance claims analyst. He graduated from Wake Forest University in May 2024 with a B.S. in economics and minor in global trade as well as a B.S. in business enterprise management with a concentration in international business.
Kevin Keller is a historian of law and economic growth. He is a Visiting Fellow in East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and a Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His research examines how China’s economic growth has transformed the global economic order.
Mr. Keller began his career in international development. He then earned his JD from Harvard Law School and is currently completing a PhD in History at Yale. His work has appeared in leading journals, including the American Journal of Comparative Law and the Harvard Law Review.
Yves Melin is an international trade and customs lawyer based in Brussels with more than 20 years of experience advising companies on EU customs law, trade defense, sanctions, and border adjustment mechanisms. He has represented clients in over 100 EU trade defense investigations and more than 30 cases before EU courts, including the landmark Ikea Wholesale decision.
Yves is the founder of Greenlane.eu, an alliance of specialized customs practitioners across the EU, and serves as Vice President of CONFIAD and a member of the European Commission’s Trade Contact Group. He is widely recognized as a leading EU trade and customs expert by Chambers, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers.
Mike Mullen is the Executive Director of the Express Association of America (EAA), representing the legislative, regulatory, and trade interests of the express delivery and logistics industry. He advocates for expedited, cross-border transportation and warehousing services and engages with Congress and federal agencies on policies governing the movement of goods into and out of the United States.
Under his leadership, EAA partners closely with U.S. regulatory and security agencies to facilitate efficient, secure international commerce and ensure the safety and compliance of goods moving across borders.
Kelly M. Fay Rodríguez was the U.S. special representative for international labor affairs from 2022 to 2025. She is co-founder and principal of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice and a senior fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as guest lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She also leads a new Competence Center for Human Rights Due Diligence.
Dennis Shea served as the United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization from 2018 to 2021, representing the U.S. in negotiations and dispute settlement proceedings during a pivotal period in global trade policy. He currently serves as Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and as a non-resident Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
Melinda St. Louis is the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, where she leads advocacy and analysis on international trade and investment policy. With more than two decades of experience working alongside labor, farmer, and civil society organizations globally — including in Latin America — she has championed alternatives to corporate-driven globalization that prioritize workers, public health, and the environment. St. Louis has provided expert analysis to Congress, senior policymakers, media, and international partners, and has helped lead major campaigns including efforts to halt the Trans-Pacific Partnership, advance discussions at the WTO on financial regulation, and support governments exiting harmful investor-state dispute settlement regimes.
She is a widely respected coalition builder, fostering broad partnerships across the global South and within the United States on issues ranging from medicine pricing and financial regulation to labor rights, environmental protection, and food safety. Prior to leading Global Trade Watch, St. Louis directed Public Citizen’s Medicare for All campaign and also served as policy director at the Jubilee USA Network and executive director of Witness for Peace. She holds an M.P.P. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Penn State University, and has been featured in major U.S. and international media outlets.
Audrey Stienonis the industrial policy program manager at Open Markets Institute. Audrey has a decade of experience addressing questions of how to develop economic strategies, policies, and institutions that advance democratic economic governance and other societal priorities. She previously worked as an associate at Omidyar Network, and as an economist at the World Bank, where she contributed to research on jobs and industries in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China.
Her work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Monthly, Tech Policy Press, Competition Policy International, and the American Prospect. Audrey is a Truman National Security Fellow, and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Hunter College, and an M.A. in International Economics and Development from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Jeff Vogt is the Director of the Solidarity Center’s Rule of Law department and Chair of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network, a global community of more than 1,300 labor rights attorneys in over 90 countries. He leads international legal strategies to protect workers’ rights, strengthen collective bargaining and the right to strike, and challenge anti-worker policies and practices in courts and international bodies.
Previously, Vogt served as Legal Director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), where he represented workers before the International Labour Organization and led global efforts to defend labor rights under trade and investment agreements. Under his leadership, the ILAW Network has advanced groundbreaking litigation and cross-border legal cooperation, helping establish new precedents to protect platform workers, expand collective bargaining rights, and advance gender equity and parental leave in labor law systems around the world.
Jared Wessel is an international trade attorney with extensive experience in trade remedies, public international law, and the intersection of trade and labor rights. He has represented clients in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, Section 301 and Section 232 matters, and disputes before the World Trade Organization and under NAFTA/USMCA. He also advises on international economic policy issues, including the USMCA’s rapid response labor mechanism and the environmental dimensions of trade agreements.
From 2011 to 2015, Wessel served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Trade Representative, where he successfully argued two cases before the WTO Appellate Body and served as a lead negotiator on market access issues with China and on the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Earlier in his career, he practiced at a global law firm, advised the Permanent Mission of Palau to the United Nations on legal and national security matters, and clerked for Judge Jane R. Roth on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Mike Williams is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where his work centers on advancing policies that create and retain high-quality, union jobs while accelerating the transition to a clean economy. He previously spent more than a decade helping build and lead the BlueGreen Alliance, ultimately serving as deputy director. In that role, he guided strategy, coalition partnerships, and advocacy efforts across climate, manufacturing, energy, and labor policy, and represented the organization at United Nations climate negotiations from Copenhagen through Paris. He also led key initiatives such as the successful Buy Clean campaign to strengthen domestic clean manufacturing.
Earlier in his career, Williams served in the office of Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), working on energy, transportation, and environmental policy and contributing to the Climate MATTERS Act. He also held policy roles at the National Wildlife Federation. Williams holds an M.P.P. from George Washington University and a B.A. from Boston University.
National Press Club
Address: 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045
On the Web: https://www.press.org
Venue & Location:
Located in the historic National Press Building, the Club sits in the heart of downtown Washington, DC—just steps from the White House and a short walk from the National Mall. The venue is one block from Metro Center station (Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver lines) for easy public transit access, and a quick drive from Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Union Station (Amtrak).
Map: View on Google Maps
Questions? Contact The Capitol Forum team at info@thecapitolforum-news.com.
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Conference Agenda
10:00–10:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks and Keynote Address
Remarks from The Capitol Forum leadership and a keynote address.
10:35–11:30 a.m. | Panel 1: Future of USMCA
The panel will explore what each party hopes to achieve with the negotiations and what leverage they have. The panel will examine the push to strengthen rules of origin, dispute settlement, and the future of labor rights in the agreement.
11:35 a.m.–12:35 p.m. | Panel 2: The End of De Minimis in the U.S. and its Future in Europe
Panelists will discuss how online retailers are navigating the end of de minimis in the U.S., the impact on global markets, and growing pressure for reform in Europe. The conversation will discuss how the end of de minimis intersects with labor and consumer protection issues.
12:35–1:30 p.m. | Lunch and a Conversation
A fireside conversation on the future of U.S. trade leadership, the role of Congress in shaping trade priorities, and lessons from the USMCA’s labor enforcement agenda.
1:35–2:35 p.m. | Panel 3: CBAM, Supply Chains, and Corporate Sustainability in the EU
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive are redefining how companies account for environmental and human rights risks in their operations. This panel will unpack how European policymakers are negotiating pushback from companies and the Trump administration.
2:40–3:40 p.m. | Panel 4: Navigating U.S.–China Rivalry and Europe’s Strategic Balancing Act
As geopolitical competition intensifies, Europe faces growing pressure to reconcile transatlantic alignment with its own strategic autonomy. This panel will explore how U.S. and EU trade and competition policies are evolving amid concerns over subsidies, investment screening, and supply chain resilience.
3:40–4:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks
Reflections on the day’s discussions and a look ahead to The Capitol Forum’s ongoing coverage of global trade and competition policy.
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