The East Asian Studies Center and Fisher College of Business Present:
Building Resilient Global Supply Chains
Katherine Tai
Office of the United States Trade Representative
William C. Kirby
Harvard University
Abstract: Businesses and consumers are increasingly aware of the geopolitical trade tensions between the US and China that are directly impacting the levels of uncertainty surrounding global supply chains. Supply chain disruptions are here to stay, but turning inward isn’t the solution. Governments and industry must work together to ensure resilience is prioritized in the global economy. This resilience will be grounded in global supply chains that aligned around domestic policy, trade policy, and the competitive landscape. This event will help leaders better understanding the connection between US trade policy and the ability to operate efficient, effective, and resilient supply chains in our complex, modern world. Expert panelists will provide government and academic perspectives on global supply chain collaboration opportunities and challenges with East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea.
Download the PDF flyer here.
Ambassador Katherine Tai was sworn in as the 19th United States Trade Representative on March 18, 2021. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, Ambassador Tai is the principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy. Prior to her unanimous Senate confirmation, Ambassador Tai spent most of her career in public service focusing on international economic diplomacy, monitoring, and enforcement. She previously served as Chief Trade Counsel and Trade Subcommittee Staff Director for the House Ways and Means Committee in the United States Congress. In this capacity, Ambassador Tai played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. trade law, negotiations strategies, and bilateral and multilateral agreements, including the recently re-negotiated United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Ambassador Tai is an experienced World Trade Organization (WTO) litigator. She previously developed and tried cases for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, eventually becoming the Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement. Before transitioning to federal service, she practiced law in the private sector, clerked for district judges, and taught English in Guangzhou, China. Ambassador Tai earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. She is fluent in Mandarin.
Dr. William C. Kirby is T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. He serves as Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the University's academic venture fund for China, and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first University-wide center located outside the United States. A historian of modern China, Kirby's work examines contemporary China's business, economic, and political development in an international context. He writes and teaches on the growth of modern companies in China (Chinese and foreign; state-owned and private); Chinese corporate law and company structure; business relations across Greater China (PRC, Taiwan, Hong Kong); and China's relations with the United States and Europe.
