Please join the WITA Academy for a special USMCA Primer “Trade on the Hill” briefing, a cross-over event with WITA’s USMCA Review Series.

Panelists will examine the evolution of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into today’s United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), including the key issues in the current agreement up for review and how the current political and economic climate plays into that process. This session will also look at the role Congress in overseeing and shaping U.S. trade policy.

The “Trade on Hill” series is meant to provide current Hill staff with background and practical context on trade policy and the role of Congress in the months ahead.

Featured Speakers:

Blake Harden, Managing Director, Washington Council Ernst & Young; former Trade Counsel on the House Ways & Means Committee; and former Senior Attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel at US Customs and Border Protection

Kellie Meiman Hock, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; Board Member, Inter-American Dialogue; former Director of Brazil and the Southern Cone, Office of the United States Trade Representative

Mayur Patel, Partner, Hogan Lovells; former Chief International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

Moderator: Andrea Durkin, Vice President, International Policy, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)

Speaker Biographies

Blake Harden guides clients through trade policy complexities, helping them anticipate challenges and seize opportunities in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

Previously, Blake spent more than five years as vice president for international trade at a large trade association, where she developed and executed the organization’s trade strategy and advocacy efforts. Before that, she served as Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, contributing to major legislative achievements and leading several bipartisan trade and customs bills. Earlier in her career, Blake spent a decade with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Chief Counsel, advising on legal and regulatory issues.

Blake brings a collaborative approach to solving complex trade challenges, grounded in policy knowledge and trusted relationships built over nearly two decades of public service and advocacy.

Blake holds a BA from Michigan State University and a JD from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Kellie Meiman Hock is a Senior Counselor at McLarty Associates and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. A long-time Latin America and trade policy hand, Kellie for over three decades has managed the most challenging issues confronting companies as they seek to manage global operations, tackle market access barriers, and grow internationally. She worked for nearly a decade as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer at the Department of State, serving in Bogota, Colombia, and throughout Brazil in Porto Alegre, São Paulo, and Recife. Her final posting was at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as Director for Brazil and the Southern Cone.

Kellie joined McLarty Associates in 2000, originally founding the firm’s trade and Brazil/Southern Cone practices and eventually becoming Managing Partner. She is now Senior Counselor to the firm and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She also guest lectures at University of Nebraska and McGill University. Kellie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, chairs the Women’s Foreign Policy Group Leadership Council, and is on the board of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Washington Campus.

Mayur Patel is a partner in the International Trade and Investment practice at Hogan Lovells. Based in Washington, D.C., Mayur advises clients on navigating complex international trade and regulatory landscapes, leveraging extensive government and private practice experience to deliver strategic counsel.

Previously, Mayur was Chief International Trade Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, advising Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), former Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and other Republican members on international economic policy. He led the Committee’s trade policy agenda and oversight of agencies including the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Department of Commerce, and International Trade Commission.

At USTR, Mayur represented the U.S. in high-stakes World Trade Organization disputes and was lead counsel for chapters of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). He successfully challenged trade barriers from China and India, securing enhanced U.S. market access.

His private practice experience includes trade compliance, regulatory strategy, internal investigations, and commercial litigation across courts, arbitration panels, and government enforcement. He received the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award for criminal appellate work.

Recognized for exceptional contributions, Mayur holds multiple USTR Extraordinary Performance Awards and the American National Standards Institute’s Next Generation Award. His deep relationships with policymakers uniquely position him to help clients effectively navigate evolving trade challenges.

Andrea Durkin leads international policy and engagement for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). As the largest manufacturing association in the United States, the NAM represents manufacturers of all sizes, in every industrial sector, and in all 50 states. Ms. Durkin and her team develop and advocate for trade policies that work for the success of the more than 13 million people who make things in America.

Before joining the NAM, Ms. Durkin served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where she was responsible for trade negotiations and U.S. policy coordination regarding matters before the World Trade Organization including WTO committees related to industrial subsidies, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, government procurement and other subject areas.  Ms. Durkin also led the development of U.S. trade positions in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and intergovernmental forums such as G7 and G20.

Ms. Durkin returned to U.S. Government service after two decades in the private sector as an entrepreneur, author, and corporate global government relations executive for a Fortune 200 life sciences company. She has 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.

Over the span of a decade of previous government service with USTR and the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ms. Durkin led negotiations that included free trade agreements in the Western Hemisphere, the trade-related aspects of United Nations multilateral environment and public health agreements, and sectoral initiatives in APEC.

Ms. Durkin has proudly taught hundreds of students International Trade and Investment Policy for twenty 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

Thank you to our WITA Academy Sponsors