About the Instructor

Professor Gold formulated international trade policy during President Biden’s campaign, where he was the first and longest-serving advisor in that field.

Prior to that, Professor Gold was an international trade policy advisor and a senior U.S. trade negotiator, serving as a Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative within the Obama-Biden Executive Office of the President. In that capacity, he served as the trade staff lead for President Obama for the North American Leaders Summit, a trade staffer for President Obama for G-8 and G-20 summits, and as the overall staff lead for the U.S. Trade Representative for the North American FTC ministerial meetings. He drafted talking points, memoranda and correspondence for the U.S. Trade Representative on a broad array of issues for G-8, G-20, OECD, APEC, Americas and North America summits and ministerials. Gold served as the Chairman of the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-Canada softwood lumber talks, and as the Chairman of the U.S. government’s Softwood Lumber Interagency Committee. He was the U.S. staff lead for the talks that brought Canada into the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, and the staff lead for the separate talks that brought Mexico into that agreement. He was regional lead for SPS and CSRM trilateral regulatory cooperation initiatives, and for trilateral dialogues on NAFTA dispute resolution. He was the U.S. staff lead or participant for U.S.-Canada dialogues on intellectual property, investment, telecom, banking, agriculture, and other issues; and the U.S. staff lead or participant in U.S.-Mexico dialogues on textile audits, beef, potatoes, poultry, tuna-dolphin, country-of-origin marking, intellectual property, and other issues. He was USTR staff lead and advisor to NSC for U.S.-Mexico Twenty-First Century Border initiative, and for the U.S.-Canada Beyond the Border initiative.

Prior to his work as a Deputy Assistant USTR within the Office of the President, Professor Gold worked in international trade and trade policy for the State, Defense and Commerce Departments. During this time, he served three civilian tours in Iraq during the war doing trade capacity-building. During his first tour, Gold led the successful effort to gain Iraq WTO Observer status, worked on problems importing food through the country’s damaged seaports, and assessed armament factories for conversion to peacetime output. During his second tour, he supported Iraq’s negotiations to procure aircraft for its national airline, and services to rehabilitate its seaports, cement industry, and other infrastructure and industry. During his third tour, he supported Iraq’s WTO accession process, and trained the nation’s Customs supervisors on the application of new WTO-compliant customs laws. He was awarded a citation for distinguished service by the U.S. Presidential Envoy to Iraq.

Before his government service, Professor Gold practiced international trade and customs law for 16 years, during which time he was appointed to serve as the Chairman of a U.S.-Canada panel convened under NAFTA to resolve an appeal of U.S. tariffs on Canadian magnesium. He holds an LL.M. in international trade law, a JD, and BA in political science.

As an expert in the international law and national law, and policy, of international trade, Professor Gold has made nearly 100 television and national radio appearances, including on NBC Nightly News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox, Bloomberg TV, BBC, CTV and NPR, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and other leading print and digital news media.

“Professor Gold is incredibly engaging, an effective presenter, and clearly incredibly knowledgeable on international trade law. He took incredibly dense material and made it palatable”         Anonymous course evaluations