[Hybrid/Free] The State of U.S. Trade and Investment Policy

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The in-person slots are all filed. Please join us virtually instead.

United States trade and investment policy has changed rapidly in recent years – and continues to change. The Administrations of both Presidents Trump and Biden have aggressively employed special tariffs and safeguards; have stepped up Customs enforcement, particularly with respect to goods made with forced labor; have abandoned the traditional provisions of free trade agreements; and have more closely scrutinized foreign investment.

What will the remaining two years of the Biden Administration bring? Will the Executive Branch or the Courts modify or abandon the Trump Administration's special China tariffs? Will the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework trade negotiations yield any meaningful outcomes? Will U.S. Customs provide importers with a real opportunity to show that their goods were not produced with forced labor? How will the Government's closer scrutiny of tech transfer and joint ventures impact investment activity in the US for foreign companies? How much of the Department of Justice's proposed Hart-Scott-Rodino Act revisions regarding reportable U.S. M&A activity will survive and upend 45 years of M&A practice in the US?

Please join us for a discussion about how these and other issues will impact trade and investment patterns in the short and medium term. Leading our discussion will be two experienced attorneys and government relations experts--David Spooner and Naomi Kwang.

David Spooner, is co-chair of Barnes & Thornburg's International Trade Practice, a former Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a former Chief Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (including during negotiation of the U.S. – Singapore free trade agreement). Naomi Kwang, a native of Singapore, is Chair of the firm's Greater China and South East Asia Practice Group. Ms. Kwang has years of experience working on buy-side and sell-side M&A and FDI transactions for U.S. and international for-profit and nonprofit clients, ranging from tens of millions to over $1 billion in deal value.

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Speakers

David Spooner

Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Naomi Kwang

Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Kandyce Ong

Associate Director of APCO Worldwide

David M. Spooner is a partner in the Corporate Department and Co-Chair of the International Trade Practice Group. David represents governments, trade associations, and corporate clients on international trade matters, including trade remedies, trade policy and customs issues. He uses his past experience as a high-level political appointee in the Executive Branch and on Capitol Hill to assist clients with their advocacy efforts before both branches of government, as well as before foreign governments.

Prior to entering private practice, David served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import Administration. In that capacity, David led U.S. Government enforcement of trade remedy laws, principally the antidumping and anti-subsidy laws. He administered the Foreign Trade Zone system; oversaw apparel trade policy and the implementation of laws governing trade in apparel; managed trade remedy negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as dispute resolution proceedings at the WTO; chaired U.S.-China talks on macroeconomic reforms and the steel industry; and supervised the US Department of Commerce's import safety initiatives.

Prior to his Senate confirmation as Assistant Secretary, David served as the Chief Textile and Apparel Negotiator and Transition Coordinator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). While at USTR, he was a principal negotiator for free trade agreements with Central America, the Dominican Republic, Singapore, Australia, Chile, Panama, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Colombia and Peru, principally negotiating customs enforcement, apparel and textile, origin and safeguard provisions. He was heavily involved in building support for congressional passage of the Bush Administration's trade agenda. David also negotiated a comprehensive apparel trade agreement with China and concluded bilateral customs and quota arrangements with several nations.

Before his appointment to USTR, David worked on Capitol Hill, managing the Washington D.C. office and serving as the legislative director and press secretary for a member of Congress, serving as Communications Director for the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, and working for the U.S. House Committee on Rules, which manages debate and amendments in the House of Representatives.

David is a noted speaker at industry events with a particular focus on the regulatory issues facing retailers and apparel brands. He is often quoted in news stories on trade remedy disputes and trade agreement negotiations.

David earned his J.D. from the College of William & Mary School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Virginia.

He is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., and Virginia and before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Having worked in multiple in-house positions, as a lawyer and consultant, Naomi Kwang understands her clients’ business needs and offers practical advice regarding the implications of strategic business combinations, investments and restructuring. She counsels clients in the U.S. and Asia to make smart yet advantageous business decisions through measured and calculated risk.

Naomi concentrates her practice on counseling clients through matters involving general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, and various international business transactions.

Specifically, Naomi has worked on buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions for U.S. and international for-profit and nonprofit clients, ranging from tens of millions to over $1 billion in deal value. She has also worked on international reorganization projects for multinational clients across North America, Europe and Asia and has advised U.S. and overseas companies in the drafting and negotiations of a wide range of agreements with international counterparties, including supply contracts, joint venture agreements, and partnership arrangements. She also advises on overall corporate organizational structure, board governance issues, and virtually all manner of commercial contracts.

Most critically, Naomi prides herself on being a sounding board for her clients on a range of legal issues they may encounter – as a quasi-external general counsel. In particular, she is uniquely able to advise them on how to best navigate the legal alternatives and strategies that arise in the course of daily business operations, and to connect them with her fellow colleagues to meet her clients’ legal needs.

As a native of Singapore, Naomi is fluent in Mandarin and understands Asian business culture, which uniquely qualifies her to assist Asian companies, including those from China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, conducting business in the United States, as well as U.S. companies seeking to do business throughout Asia. As such, she is chair of the firm’s Greater China and South East Asia Practice Group.

Before practicing law, Naomi gained nearly a decade of international corporate experience through a number of roles in Singapore. She was the head of the human capital division and senior officer in the logistics and supply chain management division for the Singapore Economic Development Board; a senior associate, focused on business strategy and performance management, with KPMG Advisory; and a senior executive in the corporate development division and employment and employability division for the National Trade Union Congress.

Naomi leverages that unparalleled knowledge to assist both publicly listed and privately held Asian clients – ranging from startups to conglomerates, across a variety of manufacturing and services industries, including medical diagnostics, healthcare services, automotive, furniture, outdoor equipment, advanced aluminum, and more – with their strategic investments and expansion plans in the U.S.

Naomi’s strength lies in the fact that she is readily aware of what a business needs to set up in the U.S. – and abroad – as well as the challenges it may encounter along the way.

Naomi is considerably invested, both personally and professionally, in working with clients and through nonprofits to promote economic development, trade, and investment opportunities between the U.S. and Asia, including China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Kandyce leads the Southeast Healthcare practice in APCO Worldwide and specialises in healthcare policy, real-world evidence generation, coalition building and advocacy. Prior to joining APCO, she was the Scientific Affairs Manager at a Fortune 500 company, driving initiatives to improve health equity on public health issues and policies on non-communicable diseases, addiction and preventative care.

She has more than 13 years of experience across the healthcare ecosystem across multinationals and healthcare institutions, supporting policy and patient advocacy, access and reimbursement efforts.

Beyond her work supporting global and Asia-specific policy monitoring and advocacy work across pharmaceutical and medical devices companies, healthcare institutions, trade associations and chambers of commerce focused on health, Kandyce also supports clients in other sectors with geocommerce, trade and political risk analysis and government affairs projects in the region.

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Employees in member company and part of the membership roster

Member will attend virtually via Zoom.

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Employees in member company but not part of the membership roster

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