Where Industry and Security Intersect
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Peter Lichtenbaum is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. In this position, Mr. Lichtenbaum is responsible for developing the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) policies regarding controls on the export of dual-use items for national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation, and short supply reasons. He chairs the inter-agency Advisory Committee on Export Policy, and manages BIS’s participation in multilateral export control regimes. In addition, he oversees BIS’s programs to ensure that industrial resources are available to meet national and economic security requirements, and manages BIS activities regarding the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the U.S.-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol.
By designation of President Bush, Mr. Lichtenbaum also served as the Acting Under Secretary for Industry and Security from January 2005 until October 2005. In this capacity, Mr. Lichtenbaum had overall responsibility for BIS’s execution of its mission to advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic interests.
On September 1, 2005, Mr. Lichtenbaum was named Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Administration (ITA). Mr. Lichtenbaum is also responsible for the functions of the Under Secretary of ITA. He serves as CEO for the 2,500-person, $382 million ITA. In this capacity for ITA, Mr. Lichtenbaum is responsible for developing U.S. trade policy, identifying and resolving market access issues, administering U.S. trade laws, enhancing the global competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors, and coordinating U.S. trade advocacy efforts on behalf of U.S. business.
Mr. Lichtenbaum joined the Commerce Department from the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he was a partner in the firm's international practice group. Mr. Lichtenbaum principally handled matters involving international trade, including U.S. export controls and economic sanctions programs, the application of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade agreements reached in the Uruguay Round, and trade litigation.
Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson, Mr. Lichtenbaum worked at the Department of the Treasury on issues of international law and economic policy. He graduated from Harvard Law School and received a Master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, concentrating in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.