The global economy is changing, bringing new challenges and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). There is significant debate about the extent to which the world economy has been disrupted by shocks like COVID-19 or shifting geopolitics, and it has entered a new phase of deglobalization with governments around the world reacting by recalibrating their trade and integration policy strategies. There are high expectations in some policy circles around a potential reorganization of global value chains (GVCs) with the reshoring and nearshoring of manufacturing and service sector jobs. There is, however, considerable uncertainty about this process of reorganization involving GVCs and its likely impacts on LAC. If countries in the region want to seize the opportunities created by these changes, they need to deepen their integration in the global markets and access world-class inputs and technologies, and in addition they must invest in high-quality infrastructure, modern logistics, and sound regulatory practices.
In this context, the Georgetown Americas Institute is pleased to host Everett Eissenstat from Squire Patton Boggs, Anabel Gonzalez from the Inter-American Development Bank, and GAI Founding Director Alejandro Werner for a discussion on the necessary policy changes to enhance LAC’s participation in global value chains. To set the stage for this policy dialogue, a keynote presentation titled “Global Supply Chains: Latin America and the Looming ‘Great Reallocation’” will be delivered by Davin Chor from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Featuring
Davin Chor is an associate professor and Globalization Chair at the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business where he is also the Harvey H. Bundy III T’68 Faculty Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year. His research interests are in international trade and political economy. As part of Dartmouth’s academic cluster on the Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization, he studies the far-reaching repercussions of globalization on world markets, governments, trade, and society. Chor is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a fellow of the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER). He presently serves as an associate editor at the Journal of International Economics, Review of International Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, and as a co-editor at Economic Inquiry. Chor completed his A.B. in economics summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2000. He also holds an A.M. in statistics (2000) and a Ph.D. in economics (2007) from Harvard.
Everett Eissenstat is one of the nation’s foremost global trade experts and a partner in the Public Policy Practice Group at Squire Patton Boggs. Having served in senior positions in Congress, Office of the United States Trade Representative, the White House, and a Fortune 50 company, he helps clients manage and mitigate geopolitical risk, influence international economic policymaking, and develop and execute successful international trade and investment strategies. During a distinguished U.S. government career spanning over two decades, Eissenstat served as deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs and deputy director of the National Economic Council. Reporting to the president, the national security advisor, and the director of the National Economic Council, he coordinated interagency policy development and implementation on international economic policy matters. Previously, he also held key roles in the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), including as the chief international trade counsel to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee (2011-2017), and as assistant U.S. trade representative for the Americas (2006-2011). Eissenstat led negotiations of multiple comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements. He also served as legislative director for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), where he advised the congressman on international trade matters, appropriations, and foreign affairs. He was also senior vice president at a multinational automotive manufacturer (2018 to 2021) reporting to the CEO and managing over 100 public policy professionals worldwide. He helped navigate a range of challenges including labor relations, supply chain disruptions and the regulatory and compliance implications of transitioning from internal combustible engines to electric vehicles.
Anabel González (L’88) is vice president for countries at the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously, she served as World Trade Organization deputy director-general beginning in June 2021. González is a renowned global expert on trade, investment, and economic development with a proven managerial track record in international organizations and the public sector. In government, Gonzalez served as minister of foreign trade of Costa Rica as well as special ambassador and chief negotiator, vice-minister of trade, and director-general for trade negotiations. She also worked as director-general of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE). González served at the World Bank as senior director of the Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness, the WTO as director of the agriculture and commodities division, and as senior consultant with the Inter-American Development Bank. More recently, González has worked as a non-resident senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, where she hosted the virtual series “Trade Winds,” and as senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group. González obtained her master's degree from Georgetown Law with the highest academic distinction and has published extensively and lectured across the world on trade, investment, and economic development.
Alejandro Werner is the founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. He recently completed almost nine years as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that appointment, he was undersecretary of finance and public credit in Mexico’s Finance Ministry and held several positions in that ministry and the Central Bank. He also taught at leading universities in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in economics from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).