Biden to nominate NYC official for key Commerce trade post

September 13, 2021

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden plans to nominate New York City’s director of city planning for a key U.S. Commerce Department trade role along with nominees for nine other positions in the administration, the White House said on Monday.

Marisa Lago, who previously worked at the U.S. Treasury and Securities and Exchange Commission, will be the nominee for undersecretary for international trade. If confirmed, Lago will face a number of pressing trade issues including Canadian lumber and aluminum tariffs.

Biden also plans to nominate economist Jed Kolko as undersecretary for economic affairs at the Commerce Department, the White House said in a statement. Kolko has been chief economist at employment website Indeed.com since 2016.

The list of nominees includes three individuals to serve on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Acting Federal Trade Commission Chair Rostin Behnam would become CFTC chair if confirmed.

The other CFTC nominees are Emory University law professor Kristin N. Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero, who is special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Reta Jo Lewis, who served at the U.S. State Department under President Barack Obama, will be nominated to chair the U.S. Export-Important Bank of the United States.

If confirmed, Lago would also take charge of other trade programs including monitoring of steel and aluminum imports and foreign trade zones.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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