Anu Gavini was hired by Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg as a senior consultant to assist clients with import and export compliance. Earlier, she was president and chief operating officer of the Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services global trade compliance management firm, which is now a subsidiary of new parent firm UPS. Before joining STTAS, Gavini spent many years with Chrysler Corporation, now DaimlerChrysler.
Deborah Augustin, who previously worked as executive director of the Trade Transformation Office at CBP, is now executive director of the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, a CBP spokesman said.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., was nominated to be director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the White House said in an announcement.
The Walt Disney Company added Michael Froman, who was a U.S. trade representative during the Obama administration, to its board of directors, Disney said in a news release. Froman is currently an executive at Mastercard.
Crowell & Moring hired David Stepp as a partner in the law firm’s international trade group in Los Angeles, it said in a press release. Stepp, who advises multinational companies and importers on customs and trade compliance, was previously at Bryan Cave.
The Solar Energy Industries Association hired John Smirnow, who previously worked at a law firm he founded, as general counsel, the SEIA said in a news release. This is a return to the association for Smirnow, who while previously with the SEIA "led the organization’s efforts to overturn a key customs ruling," according to a bio on the Smirnow Law website.
The Federal Maritime Commission named Benjamin Trogdon, previously attorney-advisor in the FMC Office of the General Counsel, director of the Bureau of Enforcement, the agency said in a news release.
Raytheon recently hired Adam Salerno, previously U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive director-policy division, as senior manager-government relations. Salerno's new position was announced during the Aug. 1 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting. Salerno is a COAC member.
General Motors hired Everett Eissenstat, who previously was deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs, as senior vice president-Global Public Policy, the company said in a news release. Before joining the White House in 2017, Eissenstat was chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee.
CBP posted a list of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) members on Aug. 1, including the seven new members and four alternate members. New members in the 15th term of COAC are: Luisella Basso of Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce; Barry Baxter of Walmart; Jose Gonzalez of Jose D. Gonzalez, L.C.B.; Jody Swetnik of Briggs & Stratton; Kate Weiner of Cargill; Brian White of The J.M. Smucker Company; and Kathy Wilkins of Alliance Operating Services.