Michael Froman was recently officially sworn in as U.S. Trade Representative. He is a longtime friend of President Obama and has already played a major role in shaping U.S. trade policy over the past four years in his position in the White House. He was most recently assistant to the president of the United States and deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, a position he held jointly at the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.
Froman will be presiding over the first round of negotiations on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership pact, set to begin the week of July 8 in Washington. He will also be overseeing negotiations in the free trade agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact that is hoped to be finished by the end of the year.
Froman used the occasion of his swearing-in ceremony to state his intent to “use every tool to increase exports of Made-in-America goods and services, level the playing field for our people to compete, and win in the global economy and fully enforce our trade rights, while also working to foster development through trade.”
President Obama recently also announced the appointment of Caroline Atkinson to replace Froman as deputy national security advisor for international economics. Atkinson has served as special assistant to the president for international economic affairs since August 2011.
