International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce
Joseph A. Spetrini
Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Policy and Negotiations
(Retired January 2008)
Joe Spetrini is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations in Import Administration. In this capacity, drawing upon his extensive experience with trade issues, he serves as a lead negotiator on antidumping in the ongoing WTO Rules negotiations, is responsible for negotiation and administration of all bilateral agreements related to antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) cases, and oversees work on broader policy issues including import licensing, monitoring the use of trade laws by foreign governments and engaging with foreign governments regarding trade law administration, and analysis of far-reaching issues regarding AD and CVD cases.
Mr. Spetrini has served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in Import Administration for the past 16 years. During that time he has supervised hundreds of AD/CVD investigations and annual administrative reviews and has been a principal or supporting negotiator for numerous suspension agreements and executive agreements.
Prior to joining the Commerce Department, Mr. Spetrini handled worker trade adjustment assistance cases in the Labor Department from 1975 to 1976. After a stint in Commerce's Office of International Trade Policy working on the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations during 1976-78, he worked in U.S. Customs Headquarters, participating in various import programs, including the trigger price mechanism for steel imports, from 1978 through 1980. Mr. Spetrini returned to Commerce in 1981 and continues his distinguished civil service career in Import Administration.
A Rhode Island native, Mr. Spetrini earned a B.A. in English from Manhattan College in New York in 1970, a M.A. in English from Rhode Island College in 1974, and a M.A. in economics from the University of Rhode Island in 1975. A Navy veteran, he taught English at Mitchell Junior College in New London, Connecticut, for two years prior to pursuing graduate studies in economics. Mr. Spetrini resides in Bowie, Maryland with his wife, Marguerite, and their children, Andrea and Joey.