Photo source: Securitas Global Risk Solutions
On September 24, President Donald Trump officially nominated Pamela Bates to be next U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bates would replace Ambassador Daniel Yohannes, who departed the post in January 2017. In the interim the U.S. Mission to the OECD had been capably led, first, by Peter Haas, and currently by Andrew Havilland as Chargé d’Affaires.
Bates is awaiting a confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Bates has considerable experience as a State Department Foreign Service Officer (FSO) specializing in economic policy work and including a tour of duty on the staff of the U.S. Mission to the OECD which she is now being nominated to head. USCIB CEO and President Peter Robinson welcomed her nomination. “We at USCIB are delighted to see the nomination of an experienced economic policy maker to be the next U.S. Ambassador at the OECD,” said Robinson. “USCIB works closely with the OECD as the sole U.S. business affiliate of the OECD’s Business and Industry Advisory Committee (Business at OECD). We and our member companies have worked closely with previous U.S. ambassadors and their staffs and look forward to continuing that close cooperation with Pamela Bates once she is confirmed and on the job in Paris.”
USCIB Vice President for Investment Policy and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly, himself a retired State Department economic officer and former Ambassador, added, “I’ve known Pam Bates from our time together at the State Department and am confident she’ll do an excellent job representing our Government at the OECD and leading the U.S. Mission. She comes to this important post well prepared.”
Bates served for 24 years as a career member of the United States Foreign Service before assuming her current role as a partner at Securitas Global Risk Solutions in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in 2017. While with the State Department, Bates’ assignments included service as deputy director of the Economic and Commercial Studies Division for the National Foreign Affairs Training Institute in Arlington, Virginia, and as the senior energy advisor at the United States Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France. She also served in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. Ms. Bates earned her AB degree from Bowdoin College, her MA from John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She speaks French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
Following USCIB’s submission to the annual request by USTR for comments on China’s compliance with WTO commitments and notice of public hearing, USCIB Senior Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl provided testimony on October 3 to the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC).
USCIB member company Chevron recently won a decisive victory in a long-running investment dispute with the government of Ecuador. A three-member international tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued an award in a long-running Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) case between Chevron and the government of Ecuador. The tribunal ruled unanimously (including the arbitrator nominated by the Ecuadorian government) that the government of Ecuador violated its obligations under international treaties (including the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment treaty), investment agreements, and international law. The tribunal held that a $9.5 billion judgment rendered against Chevron in Lago Agrio, Ecuador in 2011 was procured through fraud, bribery and corruption and was based on claims that had already been settled and released by the Government of Ecuador. The tribunal concluded that the fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment “violates international public policy” and “should not be recognized or enforced by the courts of other states.” Under international law, Chevron is not obligated to comply with the fraudulent judgment.
USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly is serving as a speaker at a week-long Foreign Policy seminar at the historic Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. The biannual Foreign Policy seminar is a joint effort of the Chautauqua Institution, the “Road Scholar” continuing education program, and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).
As part of the annual request by the U.S. Trade Representative for comments on China’s compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments and notice of public hearing, USCIB submitted 
Marriott International has been announced as the 2018 winner of the Coalition’s award.
Highlighting Key Activities, June, July, and August 2018
Tariffs of 10-25 percent are contemplated
ICC Secretary General John Denton published a letter in Financial Times on September 5 titled, “Let’s be constructive on trade and not just vent.” The letter responds to recent critique of a “muted response from U.S. chief executives to the ongoing escalation in global trade tensions,” particularly in response to President Donald Trump‘s threat to pull the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization (WTO).