After four years of the “America First” trade framework of the Trump administration, defined by bilateral deals and the trade war with China, what will the global trade and economic landscape look like under the direction of newly elected President Joe Biden and his economic team? While in the early days of Biden’s presidency the focus will be on domestic economic policy, enacting programs to boost a struggling U.S. economy reckoning with COVID-19’s impact, there are a host of economic issues abroad to consider, from China’s continued ascendance to working with Europe in the aftermath of Brexit.

Join Asia Society Southern California for a conversation on Biden’s economic priorities with Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, former U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, and London School of Economics professor Keyu Jin. Executive Director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center and Asia Society Southern California Advisory Board member Kevin Klowden will moderate.

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Speakers:

Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger has been Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) since 2008 and teaches at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin as Senior Professor for Security Policy and Diplomatic Practice. He advises the private sector, governments, and international organizations on strategic issues. He has published widely on foreign, security and defense policy issues.

Ischinger is a member of the Trilateral Commission and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and serves on a number of non-profit boards and advisory councils, including the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the American Academy Berlin, and the Atlantik-Brücke. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Hensoldt AG and of the International Advisory Council of Investcorp, London.

Having served on the staff of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (1973-75), Ischinger joined the German Foreign Service in 1975, followed by a distinguished diplomatic career. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Federal Republic of Germany's Ambassador in London and from 2001 to 2006 in Washington, DC. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister (State Secretary) of Germany from 1998 to 2001, and as Director of Policy Planning and then Political Director of the Foreign Ministry from 1995 to 1998.

In 2007, he represented the European Union in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo. In 2014, he served as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-In-Office in the Ukraine crisis. In 2015, he chaired the OSCE “Eminent Persons Panel on European Security”, mandated to offer recommendations on how to build a more resilient European security architecture.

From 2008 to 2014, he was also Global Head of Government Relations at Allianz SE, Munich.

Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva and obtained his law degree in 1972.  He earned a MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and did postgraduate work at Harvard Law School, Cambridge/USA.

Mickey Kantor, formerly United States Secretary of Commerce and United States Trade Representative, is a partner in Mayer Brown LLP, an international law firm headquartered in Chicago. He was the Presidential Appointee to the National Legal Services Corporation. Kantor represents companies in corporate and financial transactions on a worldwide basis. He is based in the firm’s Los Angeles, CA office.

Kantor joined President Clinton’s first cabinet on January 21, 1993 as the United States Trade Representative.  He was the President’s chief advisor on international trade policy, leading the negotiations resulting in the North American Free Trade Agreements, as well as more than 200 agreements to expand trade, including an auto and auto parts agreement with Japan and bilateral agreements in areas ranging from textiles to the protection of intellectual property rights. He served as chief negotiator to the 117-nation Uruguay Round, leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization, and convened three successful APEC meetings of leaders of the Asia-Pacific region containing the world’s fastest growing markets. Kantor was sworn in as the 31st United States Secretary of Commerce on April 12, 1996. As Secretary of Commerce, he carried forward President Clinton’s mandate to provide economic opportunity for American workers and businesses.

Kantor has a long history of public service, and currently serves on the boards of many Los Angeles-based civic organizations, including Vision to Learn, the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, and the L.A. Coalition of Economy and Jobs. Among the many honors he has received are the Civic Medal of Honor by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the William O. Douglas Award by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and the Thomas Jefferson Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency.

Kantor received a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in 1961.  After four years of service as a naval officer, he went on to study law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and received his degree in 1968.

Dr. Keyu Jin is a professor of economics at the London school of economics, where she researches on topics of globalization and the Chinese economy. She is from Beijing, China, and holds a B.A., M.A., and PhD from Harvard University.  Multiple academic works on international macroeconomic and China have been published in the top journal in Economics, such as the American Economic Review. She is a non-executive director to Richemont Group, the second largest luxury conglomerate. She contributes op-ed pieces to the Financial Times, and has a column in the Project Syndicate as well as Caixin, the main economics and finance magazine in China. In the past, she has advised and consulted for the World Bank, the IMF, and the New York Fed. She has also had prior experience in Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan among other financial institutions. She is a widely-read and considered a leading economist of her generation in China. She was named Young global leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014. 

Moderator:

Kevin Klowden is the executive director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center. He specializes in the study of key factors that underlie the development of competitive regional economies (clusters of innovation, patterns of trade and investment, and concentration of skilled labor), and how these are influenced by public policy and in turn affect regional economies. On a national level, he is heavily involved in issues of capital access for small business, including serving as chair of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Trade Finance Advisory Council. He also helps to coordinate the Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets initiative with the U.S. Small Business Administration, which focuses on funding for African-American and Latino small businesses. His areas of expertise include technology-based development, capital access, infrastructure, the global economy, media, and entertainment. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and London School of Economics.

Additional information on this and other programs may be found at the Asia Society Southern California website. For any questions for the speakers for this program please submit in advance to [email protected].

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