Office of the United States Trade Representative

The Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, is an arm of the executive branch of the United States government. It is responsible the United States' international trade policy, at unilateral, bilateral or multilateral levels.

The head of the office holds the title of United States Trade Representative, which is a Cabinet-level position (though not technically within the Cabinet). The position is currently held by Ambassador Robert Zoellick.

The views of the USTR tend to reflect those of large American corporations.

Since the early 1980s, the USTR has played a key role in the expansion of intellectual property laws worldwide.

List of United States Trade Representatives

Name	From	To	Appointed by
Christian A. Herter	1962	1966	John F. Kennedy
William M. Roth	1967	1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
Carl J. Gilbert	1969	1971	Richard M. Nixon
William D. Eberle	1971	1975	Richard M. Nixon
Frederick B. Dent	1975	1977	Gerald Ford
Robert S. Strauss	1977	1979	Jimmy Carter
Reubin O'Donovan Askew	1979	1981	Jimmy Carter
William E. Brock III	1981	1985	Ronald Reagan
Clayton K. Yeutter	1985	1989	Ronald Reagan
Carla A. Hills	1989	1993	George H. W. Bush
Mickey Kantor	1993	1997	Bill Clinton
Charlene Barshefsky	1997	2001	Bill Clinton
Robert B. Zoellick	2001	present	George W. Bush

See also

• World Trade Organization
• Generalized System of Preferences
• TRIPS