Multilateral Trade Affairs

The Office of Multilateral Trade Affairs (MTA) leads the State Department's trade policy activities in multilateral institutions, including the WTO and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It also provides technical expertise on cross-cutting issues in regional and bilateral trade negotiations including labor, environment, services, government procurement, trade remedies, and trade capacity building. The MTA team is working to conclude an ambitious WTO Doha Development Round that will provide economic benefits to the U.S. and help reduce poverty abroad, bring positive private sector solutions to foreign and security policy challenges through the Economic Empowerment in Strategic Regions (EESR) Initiative, and advance the Administration's international economic policies in bilateral WTO accession negotiations and implementation of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

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Office Director:	William E. Craft, Jr.
Contact Info:	Email:   CraftWE@state.gov
	Phone:  (202) 647-6324
	Fax :      (202) 647-0892

Mr. Craft is the Director of the Office of Multilateral Trade Affairs in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs at the Department of State. He is the lead officer in the Department for all issues related to the World Trade Organization (WTO), including negotiation of the Doha Development Agenda, international trade disputes, and WTO accessions. Mr. Craft began his career at State in the Foreign Service, where his assignments included Embassy Rome; desk officer for Haiti and Dominican Republic; and in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Since his conversion to the Civil Service, he has worked in the Bureau of Human Resources and held a number of management positions in the Economic Bureau. In 2005, Mr. Craft received the Secretary's Award for Public Diplomacy. He has received a number of the Department of State's Superior Honor Awards for his work on the WTO's Doha Development Agenda, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Uruguay Round, and for his role in negotiating NAFTA.