Katherine Tai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Katherine Tai
|
|
|---|---|
| 戴琪 | |
Official portrait, 2021
|
|
| 19th United States Trade Representative | |
| In office March 18, 2021 – January 20, 2025 |
|
| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy | Sarah Bianchi Jayme White |
| Preceded by | Robert Lighthizer |
| Succeeded by | Juan Millán (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Katherine Chi Tai
March 18, 1974 Connecticut, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Robert Skidmore |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Katherine Tai | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 戴琪 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 戴琪 | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
Katherine Chi Tai (born March 18, 1974) is an American lawyer. She served as the 19th United States Trade Representative from March 2021 to January 2025. This important job involves handling trade deals for the United States.
Katherine Tai is the daughter of immigrants from Taiwan. She is the first Asian American to hold this position. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before this, she was the main trade lawyer for a group in the U.S. Congress.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Katherine Tai was born in Connecticut on March 18, 1974. Her family is Taiwanese American. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and went to Sidwell Friends School.
Her parents were born in China and moved to Taiwan in 1949. Later, they moved to the United States. Katherine Tai can speak Mandarin very well.
In 1996, she graduated from Yale University with a degree in history. After college, she taught English in China for two years. She then went to Harvard Law School and became a lawyer in 2001. After law school, she worked as a lawyer for different companies.
Her Career in Trade Policy
From 2007 to 2014, Katherine Tai worked for the Office of the United States Trade Representative. This office helps the U.S. deal with trade around the world. She became the chief lawyer for China trade issues in 2011. She also worked on trade cases at the World Trade Organization, which helps countries trade fairly.
In 2014, she started working for the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. This group in Congress deals with taxes and trade. She became their chief trade lawyer in 2017.
While working there, she helped with talks about the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). This is a trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. She worked to make sure the agreement included strong rules to protect workers. Many people see her as someone who solves problems in trade.
Trade Representative (2021-2025)
.jpg)
Becoming the Trade Representative
In December 2020, Joe Biden chose Katherine Tai to be the next Trade Representative. People described her as someone who believes in progress and can bring people together. She is good at bridging different ideas about trade.
The Senate Finance Committee held a meeting about her nomination in February 2021. The committee agreed to her nomination without any objections. On March 17, 2021, the entire Senate voted to confirm her. She was approved with a vote of 98 to 0.
Her Time in Office
Katherine Tai officially started her job on March 18, 2021. As the Trade Representative, she has the title of ambassador. She is also a member of the Cabinet of the United States, which is a group of top advisors to the President.
During her time, she supported a plan to temporarily remove some rules for COVID-19 vaccines. This was to help more countries get access to them. In June 2021, she spoke to the AFL–CIO, a large group of labor unions. This was an effort to improve relations between the trade office and worker groups. Since 2021, she has also helped lead the Trade and Technology Council. This group works on trade and technology issues.
See also
In Spanish: Katherine Tai para niños
