US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American Arun Venkataraman for Director-General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service and Assistant Secretary for Global Marketsin Department of Commerce.
Along with Venkataraman, Biden has nominated five other individuals to serve in key administration roles. Brian Nelson is nominated for Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligencein the Department of the Treasury. Lisa Brown is nominated for General Counsel of the Department of Education and Matt Olsen for Assistant Attorney General, National Security Divison in the Department of Justice.
Venkataraman has over 20 years of experience in advising companies, international organizations and the US government on international trade issues. He is currently the Counselor tothe Secretary of Commerce and advises the department on trade and other international economic matters.
Arun Venkataraman has previously served as the trade and investment policy adviser at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He had counseled multinational firms and other organizations on e-commerce,intellectual property rights and US and foreign trade politics.
Before joining the Biden- Harris administration, Arun Venkataraman was a senior director at Visa, leading global government engagement strategy on a range of international policy issuesincluding digital economy, trade, tax and sanctions.
Venkataraman has also worked in President Barack Obama's administration as the first-ever Director of Policy at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.He helped in shaping the US Government’s responses to critical challenges faced by firms in the country and the market around the world, including China and India.