Thank you for joining WITA on Tuesday, August 12th as we welcomed the three co-chairs of the Coalition for North American Trade as they discussed the latest in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada, how any August announcements would impact the USMCA review, and explored what next steps could be taken toward building positive momentum for a renewal of the landmark agreement between the three countries.

Featured Speakers:

The Honorable Kevin Brady, Senior Consultant, Akin; former Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee

Kenneth Smith Ramos, Partner, Agon; former Mexican Chief Negotiator for the USMCA, Office of the Secretariat of the Economy

Steve Verheul, Principal, GT&Co Executive Advisors; former Special Advisor, Trade Policy, Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance

Moderator: Andrea Durkin, Vice President for International Policy, National Association of Manufacturers

Speaker Biographies

Kevin Brady is Senior Consultant at Akin. He advises clients on a range of public policy and government relations issues, with a special focus on economic issues: tax, trade, health care and energy matters. He served for 26 years as a member of Congress representing the 8th congressional district of Texas, including northern Houston, as well as The Woodlands.

Throughout his career, Rep. Brady played a pivotal role in shaping economic policy in the United States. As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (2015-2019), he led the Committee’s efforts to deliver a detailed blueprint for comprehensive, pro-growth tax reform, the first in 30 years, and authored the historic 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

A national leader in free trade, Rep. Brady chaired the Trade Subcommittee and helped secure approval of 13 of America’s 15 free trade agreements, as well as multiple trade promotion authority, trade facilitation and WTO accession bills. He played a key role in the record bipartisan passage of the U.S.-Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

As chairman of the Health Subcommittee, Rep. Brady led efforts to make permanent the research and development tax credit, incentivizing American-led research in crucial medical advancements and technologies. He also played a leadership role in Medicare modernization and health care innovation.

In the energy sector, Rep. Brady negotiated an end to the 40-year ban on selling U.S. crude oil overseas. He worked successfully across the aisle to pass into law two major bipartisan reforms in retirement security: Secure and Secure 2.0.

Rep. Brady served as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation and Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and has earned a reputation as a highly regarded leader within the Republican caucus in both the House and Senate. His extensive experience has allowed him to cultivate strong relationships with policy-makers and staff members in both parties. A dedicated advocate for pro-growth policies, tax reform and free trade, Rep. Brady is committed to shaping a favorable business environment for his clients.

Prior to serving in Congress, Rep. Brady worked as a Chamber of Commerce executive for 18 years and served for six years in the Texas House of Representatives, where he was named a Top Ten Legislator for Families & Children and one of Five Outstanding Young Texans.

Kenneth Smith Ramos is a Partner at Agon. He focuses on helping international clients to identify trade and foreign direct investment opportunities derived from the new generation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Mexico has negotiated, such as CPTPP, the MX-EU FTA, and the NAFTA/USMCA. Ken also advises clients who face trade barriers and assists them in developing strategies to obtain or expand access into key international markets, including Mexico.

Prior to joining Agon, Ken served as Mexico´s Chief Negotiator for the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that led to the signing of the USMCA. He has been an integral part of Mexico’s negotiating team representing several government agencies, and began his career with the team negotiating the NAFTA in 1992.

Ken holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University, and a Master’s degree in International Economics from Johns Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Steve Verheul is a Principal at GT&Co Executive Advisors. As Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator from 2017 to 2021, Steve Verheul was responsible for negotiating Canada’s most important trade deals including the new NAFTA (CUSMA/USMCA) and Canada-European Union trade agreement. Most recently he served as a special advisor on trade policy to Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance.

Hailed by media and pundits as the “most important Canadian you’ve probably never heard of”, Mr. Verheul’s support for our clients is game-changing. His network, expertise and relationships in domestic and international markets is unparalleled.

During his 34 years in the federal public service, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of the Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch at Global Affairs Canada and appointed as Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator for negotiations between Canada and the European Union in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2009-2016, leading that negotiation from its beginning through to its successful conclusion.

He was previously Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture, including the WTO. During his tenure at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.

Andrea Durkin is one of the nation’s foremost experts on international policy, drawing from decades of experience serving in Democratic and Republican administrations. Immediately prior to joining the NAM, Andrea served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for World Trade Organization (WTO) and Multilateral Affairs.  She led trade negotiations and U.S. policy at the WTO and was responsible for committees on industrial subsidies, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, trade facilitation, customs and others. She was also the U.S. senior official for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Trade Committee, G7 and G20 trade tracks. This was Andrea’s second stint in the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, after nearly two decades in the private sector as an entrepreneur, author and corporate government relations executive.

While a solopreneur, Andrea also served as a non-resident senior fellow and advisor to leading think tanks in Washington, Dallas and Chicago on trade policy, economic growth and food and agricultural trade. She has taught hundreds of students international trade and investment policy for the last 19 years as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service program and served as president of the Women in International Trade association.

Thank you to our USMCA Review Series Sponsors