Biography

"Craig VanGrasstek," according to The Economist, "keeps a sharp eye on the politics of trade." He is the Executive Director of the Program on Trade and Negotiations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, where he also teaches courses on the political economy of trade policy in both the executive education and degree programs. He is also on the faculty of the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service (Georgetown University), where he teaches an innovative course on literature and foreign policy. Dr. VanGrasstek served on the adjunct faculty of the American University's School of International Service during 1994-2001, and has also lectured at other universities in the United States and abroad, at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute, and at training courses and seminars sponsored by U.S. Government agencies and international organizations.

His firm, Washington Trade Reports, specializes in monitoring and analyzing current issues in trade policy. Dr. VanGrasstek has worked as a consultant for the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Bank, and other international organizations, as well as government agencies and private firms. He has worked in over three dozen countries on five continents.

Dr. VanGrasstek received his doctorate in Politics from Princeton University in 1997. He also holds the degree of Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University (1983), and received a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Minnesota (1981).

In addition to numerous reports to international organizations, book chapters, and journal articles, Dr. VanGrasstek's publications include the second revised edition of the Smithsonian Institution's Scholars' Guide to Washington, D.C. for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), and (with Stephen Lande) The Trade and Tariff Act of 1984: Trade Policy in the Reagan Administration (Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, 1986).

Selected publications

BOOKS

Scholars' Guide to Washington, D.C. For Latin American and Caribbean Studies (revised edition). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. In cooperation with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian Institution.

The Trade and Tariff Act of 1984: Trade Policy in the Reagan Administration (with Stephen Lande). Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, 1986.

BOOK CHAPTERS

"Treatment of Cultural Goods and Services in International Trade Agreements." Chapter in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Trends in Audiovisual Markets: Regional Perspectives from the South (Paris: UNESCO, 2006).

"U.S. Policy Towards Free Trade Agreements: Strategic Perspectives and Extrinsic Objectives." Chapter in International Institute for Trade and Development, Brainstorming on Convergence of Preferential Trading Arrangements and the Multilateral Trading System (Bangkok: ITD, 2005).

"United States Energy Trade Policy: The Consequences of a Pivotal Year." Chapter in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Energy and Environmental Services: Negotiating Objectives and Development Priorities (Geneva: UNCTAD, 2003).

"The Role of World Trade Organization Accession in Economic Reform: A Three-Dimensional View." Chapter in Merlinda Ingco, ed., Agriculture, Trade, and the WTO: Creating a Trading Environment for Development (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2002).

"Why Demands on Acceding Countries Increase Over Time: A Three-Dimensional Analysis of Multilateral Trade Diplomacy." Chapter in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, WTO Accessions and Development Policies (Geneva: UNCTAD, 2001).

Comment on chapter by Alan Deardorff in Roger Porter, Pierre Sauvé, Arvind Subramanian, Americo Bevigligia Zampetti, editors, Efficiency, Equity, and Legitimacy: The Multilateral Trading System at the Millennium (Washington, D.C.: Center for Business and Government and Brookings Institution, 2001).

"The Energy Trade Policy of the United States." Chapter in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Trade Agreements, Petroleum and Energy Policies (Geneva: UNCTAD, 2000).

"U.S. Objectives in the WTO Agriculture Negotiations." Chapter in Constanza Valdes, ed., Agricultural Trade in the Multilateral Framework: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives (Caracas: Ediciones Corregidor, 1999).

"Labor Rights." Chapter in Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza, Patrick Low, and Barbara Kotschwar, editors, Trade Rules In The Making: Challenges in Regional and Multilateral Negotiations (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1999).

"Civil Society and the U.S. Political Commitment to Trade Liberalization: Implications for Trade Negotiations." Chapter in Latin American Economic System, The Economic Labyrinth: The Agenda of Latin America and the Caribbean to Cope with the International Financial Crisis (Caracas: Ediciones Corregidor, 1999).

"The Free Trade Area of the Americas: Options and Perspectives for the United States of America and Latin America and the Caribbean." Chapter in Latin American Economic System, Dynamics of the External Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean (Caracas: Ediciones Corregidor, 1998).

"Dispute-Settlement Procedures in U.S.-Andean Trade." Chapter in Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza, Patricia Correa, and Barbara Kotschwar, editors, The Andean Community and the United States: Trade and Investment Relations in the 1990s (Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States, 1998).

"Market Access Issues in the Automobile Sector" (with Denis Audet). Chapter in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Market Access Issues in the Automobile Sector (Paris: OECD, 1997).

Sections on private-sector initiatives affecting labor rights. Incorporated in chapters of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Trade, Employment and Labour Standards (Paris: OECD, 1996).

"El TLCAN y la subasta política." Chapter in Gustavo Vega Cánovas, editor, México-Estados Unidos-Canadá 1991-1992. Mexico City, Mexico: El Colegio de México, 1993.

"The Political Economy of Trade and the Environment in the United States Senate." Chapter in Patrick Low, ed., International Trade and the Environment. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 1992.

"The North American Free Trade Agreement: A Regional Model?" (with Gustavo Vega Cánovas). Chapter in Sylvia Saborio, editor, The Premise and the Promise: Free Trade in the Americas. U.S.-Third World Policy Perspectives Number 3. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1992. In cooperation with the Overseas Development Council.

"La influencia del Congreso estadounidense el la formulación de la política de comercio exterior: el caso de la Ronda Uruguay." Chapter in Gustavo Vega Cánovas, editor, México-Estados Unidos 1990. Mexico City, Mexico: El Colegio de México, 1992.

"Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights: United States Trade Policy, Developing Countries and the Uruguay Round," in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Uruguay Round: Further Papers on Selected Issues. UNCTAD/ITP/42. New York: United Nations, 1990.

Chapters 3-6 of Latin American Economic System, América Latina/Estados Unidos: Evolución de las Relaciones Económicas (1984-1985). Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1986.

"Trade with the Developing Countries: The Reagan Record and Prospects" (with Stephen Lande). Chapter in John W. Sewell, Richard Feinberg, and Valeriana Kallab, editors, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Third World: Agenda 1985-86. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1985. In cooperation with the Overseas Development Council.

"The Central American Crisis - Rapporteur's Report," in Joseph Cirincione, editor, Central America and the Western Alliance. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985. In cooperation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

"The Consistency of WTO Rules: Can the Single Undertaking Be Squared with Variable Geometry?" (with Pierre Sauvé) Journal of International Economic Law Volume 9 Number 4 (November, 2006).

"Bush vs. Kerry on Trade Policy" World Trade Volume 17 Number 10 (October, 2004).

"Peace, Security, and Middle East Trade: Is Discrimination the Problem or the Solution?" Journal of World Investment (October, 2003).

"US Plans for a New WTO Round: Negotiating More Agreements with Less Authority," The World Economy Volume 23 Number 5 (May, 2000).

"What is the FTAA's Role in the USA's Global Strategy?" Capítulos - Relaciones externas de América Latina y el Caribe Number 54 (July-September, 1998), Caracas.

"The Fast Track: A Long and Winding Road," Capítulos - Relaciones externas de América Latina y el Caribe Number 53 (January-June, 1998), Caracas.

"Latin America, the United States, and Congress," Capítulos - Relaciones externas de América Latina y el Caribe Number 52 (October-December, 1997), Caracas.

"Is the Fast Track Really Necessary?" Journal of World Trade Volume 31 Number 2 (April, 1997).

"Las elecciones estadounidenses y el debate sobre política comercial," Capítulos - Relaciones externas de América Latina y el Caribe Number 46 (April-June 1996).

"Estados Unidos: Elecciones Legislativas y Política Comercial," America Latina/Internacional Volume 3 Number 8 (April-June 1986).

"Negotiating U.S.-Third World Trade in Services: Obstacles and Opportunities." Overseas Development Council, Policy Focus Number 7 (1986). Reissued by the U.S. Information Agency as "Trade in Services: Obstacles and Opportunities," Economic Impact Number 59 (Summer, 1987).

"The Caribbean Basin Initiative: Update." Overseas Development Council, Policy Focus Number 3 (1985).

"Policy Analysis: The Trade and Tariff Act of 1984," Council of the Americas Washington Report Volume 1 Number 1 (January, 1985).

"How Cocaine Kings Manage Illicit Growth" (with Thomas Quinn), International Management Volume 39 Number 6 (June, 1984).