Bill Craft is currently serving as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Economic Bureau where he is responsible for global economic engagement and negotiations. He was previously the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Programs, in the Bureau of Economic, and Business Affairs at the Department of State. In this capacity he supervises four offices, which are responsible for all trade issues including multilateral and bilateral trade, agriculture and biotechnology issues, and protection of intellectual property. He has been an active member of the team which developed and is now implementing the President’s initiative to fight global hunger
Mr. Craft had been the Director of the Office of Multilateral Trade at the State Department from 2002 to 2009. In that capacity, he was the lead officer for all issues related to the World Trade Organization (WTO), including negotiation of the Doha Development Agenda and countries in the WTO accession process. Mr. Craft played a critical role in the negotiation of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and he was directly involved in negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He is an active participant on the trade-related aspects of the OECD, regional groups including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, and in many bilateral free trade area negotiations. Mr. Craft is also involved in the trade-related aspects of the G8 and G20 Summit processes.
From 2001 to 2002 he was the director of the Department's office responsible for bilateral telecommunications and internet policy. Before converting to the civil service, Mr. Craft's Foreign Service assignments included Rome; desk officer for Haiti and Dominican Republic; and East Asian Economic Policy.
Mr. Craft has received a number of the State Department's highest awards including the Secretary's Award for Public Diplomacy, the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his work on the WTO's Doha Development Agenda, and for his role at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Education: Colby College, Maine, B.A. in Economics. American University, Washington DC, Masters in Public Administration. Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University (NDU), Washington DC, Masters of Science.
