Wendy Cutler

Wendy Cutler joined the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) as Vice President and Managing Director of the Washington D.C. Office in November 2015. In these roles, she focuses on building ASPI’s presence in Washington — strengthening its outreach as a think/do tank — and on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade and women’s empowerment in Asia. She joins ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Most recently she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, working on a range of U.S. trade negotiations and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In that capacity she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, including the bilateral negotiations with Japan.

Ms. Cutler’s other responsibilities with USTR included U.S.-China trade relations, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum. She was the Chief U.S. Negotiator for the U.S.-Korea (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement and negotiated a wide range of bilateral agreements with Japan on such issues as telecommunications, autos, and semiconductors. She has extensive multilateral trade experience as the U.S. negotiator for the WTO Financial Services Agreement and several Uruguay Round Agreements. Prior to joining USTR, Ms. Cutler worked on trade issues at the Commerce Department.

Ms. Cutler received her master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and her bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University. She is married and has one son.

Cathy DeFilippo

Catherine DeFilippo is the Director of Operations at the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). Ms. DeFilippo directs the planning and conduct of the USITC’s operational activities by overseeing the investigative and research activities of the agency’s Offices of Investigations, Unfair Import Investigations, Industries, Economics, Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements, and Analysis and Research Services. Ms. DeFilippo previously held numerous other positions at the USITC including Director, Office of Investigations, Chief of the Applied Economics Division, Senior Economist to Commissioner Deanna Okun, and International Economist. Ms. DeFilippo holds a BA degree in economics from Boston College and an MBA degree from the University of Maryland.