trade.gov - Michelle O'Neill

Photo of Michelle O'Neill International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce

Michelle O'Neill

Deputy Under Secretary
for International Trade

Michelle O'Neill was named Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade in November 2005. In this capacity, she oversees the daily operations of the International Trade Administration (ITA), which has an annual budget of $400 million and 2300 employees. O'Neill returns to ITA with an impressive professional record and a long history of government service, including 17 years of prior ITA service.

Before rejoining the ITA leadership team, O'Neill served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology. Beginning in July 2004, O'Neill served as the chief operating officer of the Technology Administration, which includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Over the course of her ITA career, O'Neill has served in every major operating unit of the organization. Between June 2000 and July 2004, O'Neill was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology Industries in ITA. In addition to serving as the lead advocate for U.S. information and medical technology companies, O'Neill played an instrumental role in U.S. e-commerce policy, including establishing the U.S. government's first Office of Electronic Commerce.

In addition to her headquarters assignments, O'Neill served overseas as a Senior Commercial Officer with ITA's U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. From August 1995 to February 1998, O'Neill was the Commercial Attache to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. O'Neill returned to Washington in February 1998, serving as the chief of staff to the Under Secretary for International Trade until March 2000.

Prior to serving overseas, O'Neill worked in the office of Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Timothy J. Hauser, serving as his executive assistant, between January 1992 and January 1995. From January to August 1995, O'Neill served as a Brookings Legislative Fellow with the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee; from September 1990 to March 1991, O'Neill was detailed to the White House Office of Policy Development.

From 1987 to 1990, she worked in ITA's Office of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations. O'Neill began her government career as a Presidential Management Intern in 1987.

O'Neill has been awarded a series of honors for her accomplishments. Most recently, she received the Department's Silver Medal for her work on the APEC Privacy Framework; she also received a Silver Medal in 2004, for resolving a major China market access barrier, and in 2001, for developing the U.S. government portal, www.Export.gov. In 2004, International Economy Journal's "Who's Who in China Economic Policy" listed O'Neill. O'Neill won a Departmental Bronze Medal in 2003, for improving Chinese market access for U.S. IT firms. In 2001, O'Neill received the William A. Jump Award for exemplary service in public administration.

O'Neill received her B.A. degree from Sweet Briar College in 1985, and her M.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1987. O'Neill resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Marshall Mills, and their son.