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Ronald K. LorentzenInternational Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce

Ronald K. Lorentzen

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations

 

Ron Lorentzen is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations in Import Administration. In this capacity, he serves as a lead U.S. negotiator on trade remedy rule issues in the ongoing Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO), is responsible for the negotiation and administration of all bilateral agreements reached under the U.S. antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) laws, and oversees work on a broad range of policy issues concerning unfair trade law administration, import surveillance, monitoring and outreach concerning the use of trade remedies by foreign governments affecting U.S. commercial interests and analysis and advocacy with respect to the impact of foreign subsidies and other unfair trade practices on U.S. commerce. Before assuming this position, Mr. Lorentzen directed the Office of Policy in Import Administration where he served as the chief policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import Administration and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations concerning the administration of the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws and helped to ensure consistency in antidumping and countervailing duty law application, in conformity with U.S. statutory requirements and international obligations.

Prior to July 2001, Ron was the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs. In that capacity, he helped coordinate the United States’ overall participation in the work of the World Trade Organization, including the 1996, 1998 and 1999 WTO ministerial conferences. At USTR, Ron was chiefly responsible for U.S. policy concerning WTO rules governing trade remedies such as AD, CVD and safeguard measures, the trade-related aspects of competition policy, and government subsidies to industry and other industrial policy measures. He has represented the United States in many committees of the WTO and the OECD, and was responsible for subsidy and trade remedy matters in Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations.

Before beginning his tenure at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in April 1995, Mr. Lorentzen had a fellowship in the Department of Commerce’s Office of Technology Policy, where he advised officials on the interaction and relationship between U.S. trade and technology policies. He also held several previous positions in the Commerce Department’s Import Administration, where he was a key member of the U.S. negotiating teams to the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations on subsidies and on antidumping practices.