Kevin Wolf Speaks with American Shipper on His Service at the Commerce Department

Akin Gump international trade partner Kevin Wolf has been quoted extensively in the article “Looking back, looking forward,” published in American Shipper magazine. Wolf, a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, recounts his time working on export control reform in the Obama administration.

Wolf describes his biggest accomplishment as the successful breaking down of barriers that once stood between federal agencies in charge of export control. It was, as the article notes, the reason he was hired at the Commerce Department, though he admitted the changes in policy would not be easy. He told American Shipper, “When you shake up an entire system like export controls, some people will even learn that they weren’t complying with the regulations.”

While President Trump has not yet named anyone to replace Wolf at the Commerce Department, Wolf had some suggestions for building on the four export control reform principles already laid out:

• strengthen military interoperability with NATO and other allies
• reduce regulatory burdens that dissuade these countries from using U.S. content in their product development
• focus the regulatory agencies’ limited licensing and enforcement resources on “the items, end uses, end users, and destinations of greatest concern”
• “improve” the reliability and predictability of the regulations so that exports and enforcement can be reliable and predictable, thus enhancing not only our national security but also our economic security”

Finally, Wolf discussed his reasons for joining Akin Gump, noting the firm’s “renowned reputation for its government-facing practices and one of the broadest and most expansive international trade platforms of any major global law firm.”

To read the full article, please click here.