News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 12, 2021) – On August 10, the White House announced President Biden’s intent to nominate Chris Wilson as the Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator at the Office of the United States Trade Representative.  The Chief IP Negotiator will be responsible for helping lead the new Administration’s policy on trade-related intellectual property rights. RIAA’s Senior Vice President, International Policy George York issued the following statement in response to this announcement:

“RIAA applauds President Biden’s choice of Chris Wilson as the nominee for Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator.  As a career trade professional with deep experience in the field, Chris is supremely qualified to take on this vital leadership role at USTR.  President Biden’s announcement is especially welcome since this statutorily mandated position has not been filled since it was created in 2015.  We thank President Biden for taking this historic and pivotal step to strengthen the US economy by selecting such an exceptional nominee to advocate for smart pro-growth trade policies that hold up American creators and protect the copyright on which they rely.” 

“Chris is deeply knowledgeable on trade and intellectual property rights issues, and brings an unmatched wealth of experience in critical regions from Europe and the Middle East, to Latin America and Central Asia.  He is a much welcome addition to USTR’s Innovation and Intellectual Property Office that is already extremely strong and has always been an incredible champion of American creators and their contributions to US jobs and growth through US trade policy engagement.  This is vital work in one of our most important sectors in terms of high-quality well-paying jobs, economic growth, exports, and cultural impact – the US creative community alone supplies the US economy with 5.7 million jobs, $1.5 trillion in economic growth, and over $218 billion in foreign sales each year.”

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Contact:
Liz Kennedy (LKennedy@riaa.com)