Washington D.C. – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Jake Colvin today announced that Margaret Cekuta has joined the NFTC as Senior Director for Trade and Innovation Policy.
She will serve as NFTC’s lead on digital trade, environment, health and intellectual property and spearhead the Council’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific.
Ms. Cekuta most recently worked at Capitol Counsel where she advised clients on a broad range of international trade issues. She previously served as Associate Chief of Staff at the Council of Economic Advisors and in several roles at USTR including Chief of Staff to the General Counsel.
“We are thrilled to welcome Margaret to our team,” said Colvin. “Her government and private sector experience on a range of critical trade, IP and technology issues will enable NFTC to expand its work in evolving areas of global economic policy involving health, environment, and digital and frontier technologies.”
Margaret’s full bio can be found below.
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Margaret Cekuta
Senior Director, Trade & Innovation Policy
Margaret Cekuta is Senior Director for Trade and Innovation Policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, the leading business association dedicated to advancing the interests of U.S. companies in international commerce.
Prior to joining the NFTC, Margaret was a principal at Capitol Counsel serving as a key member of their international trade team. She advised clients on a broad array of international economic and trade matters including the impacts of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and tariffs imposed by the United States and trading partners. She also worked with companies in a broad array of industries from automotive to lumber.
Margaret previously served at the Council of Economic Advisers, where her portfolio focused on international trade, including the Section 301 investigation into China’s intellectual property practices, as well as pharmaceutical medicines and cyber issues.
Before joining CEA, Margaret worked for the Office of The United States’ Trade Representative, holding policy positions in the Office of Europe and the Middle East (EME) and the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). In EME, Margaret’s portfolio included Ukraine, Russia, and Germany. While in the OGC, Margaret was a key policy member focused on the economic cybertheft of trade secrets and the Section 301 investigation into China’s Intellectual Property Practices.
Margaret is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she received a BSFS from the School of Foreign Service as well as a Master’s of Liberal Studies. Her Master’s Thesis, The Benefits of Promoting Women-Owned Micro and Small Businesses Through the United States’ Trade Policy, earned the school’s Outstanding Student Award.
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About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade and tax policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses.
