Mary Estelle Ryckman is responsible for coordinating U.S. trade capacity building activities, which help developing countries participate in the global trading system and benefit from the opportunities created by trade.  Incorporating trade capacity building into trade negotiations like in the CAFTA-DR or the Aid for Trade discussions at the WTO is a priority for USTR.  Ms. Ryckman works closely with other federal agencies, international organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in order to development the broadest possible response to the needs of our trading partners.

Prior to her current assignment, Ms. Ryckman was the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Canada and was responsible for trade and investment issues with that country.  She has over 15 years of negotiating experience covering the full range of trade issues, from the Uruguay Round to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to investment issues, including bilateral investment treaties and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment negotiations in the OECD.

Ms. Ryckman also spent five years as a commercial loan officer in Boston before joining the federal government. She received a graduate degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University in 1988 and completed her undergraduate work at Princeton University in1981.