Clete Willems Quoted in Law360 on Coronavirus Impact on USTR’s Office

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems has been quoted in the Law360 article “Pandemic Crunch Weighs On Nation’s Trade Negotiators,” which reports on the pressure being felt by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The article notes that the agency is quite familiar with unusual work arrangements, having operated with skeleton teams and travel restrictions during several government shutdowns and budget skirmishes over the past decade.

Willems, who worked in the USTR’s general counsel’s office from 2009 to 2017, told Law360 that the staff is particularly adept at teleconferencing, with top officials regularly traveling around the globe.

“The combination of having gone through this a couple times with a couple different shutdowns, plus just the nature of the beast and the fact that people are used to traveling and being away from each other makes it easier for them I think than most agencies," said Willems.

While it may be difficult to close a trade deal when the parties are unable to meet in person, Willems said, “in terms of tabling initial tranches of text, walking through the text, they certainly can continue to make progress on that,” referring to new trade negotiations with Kenya and the United Kingdom, as well as second-phase deliberations with China and Japan.