FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Former U.S. Deputy Trade Representative John J. Sullivan to Lead Global Trade Delegation Focused on Emerging Markets
Seasoned diplomat and national-security attorney tapped to re-energize U.S. export push amid shifting global supply chains and $32 trillion in projected cross-border commerce through 2030.
Washington, D.C. – November 21, 2025
The International Trade Administration (ITA) today announced that former Deputy Secretary of State and longtime trade counsel John J. Sullivan will chair the newly formed Global Trade Delegation on Critical Supply Chains, a 14-country mission designed to open overseas markets for U.S. clean-tech, digital-services, and advanced-manufacturing firms.
Sullivan, 63, who served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative under two administrations and later as Ambassador to Russia, will begin a six-month tour January 15, 2026, with stops in Vietnam, Kenya, Poland, Brazil, and Indonesia—markets the World Bank projects will account for 44 % of global growth through 2030. The delegation, organized jointly by ITA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, targets $7.8 billion in new export contracts in sectors ranging from grid-scale batteries to quantum-safe cybersecurity software.
“American competitiveness depends on relationships, not just tariffs,” Sullivan said. “Our goal is to position U.S. firms as the supplier of choice before these markets hard-wire Chinese or EU standards.” Sullivan’s appointment comes as reshoring incentives and friend-shoring alliances have pushed the U.S. trade deficit in advanced goods to a five-year low, according to.
Market research firm Oxford Economics estimates that every $1 billion in additional high-tech exports supports 5,700 domestic jobs, many paying 18 % above the national median wage. The delegation will leverage that statistic in pitch meetings with foreign procurement agencies, emphasizing U.S. adherence to the new WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Sustainability, ratified in June 2025.
Sullivan brings four decades of legal and diplomatic experience, including negotiation of the 2018 U.S.–Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership and the 2022 U.S.–EU Critical Minerals Agreement. Corporate participants—among them Cummins, Qualcomm, and First Solar—will gain access to Sullivan’s classified-level threat briefings on intellectual-property protection, a service ITA says no other G7 trade mission currently provides.
“John Sullivan has walked the corridors of the Kremlin and the boardrooms of Fortune 50 companies,” said Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice-President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “That blend of geopolitical savvy and board-level fluency is exactly what CEOs need when deciding whether to build a $400 million semiconductor packaging plant abroad.”
The mission will coincide with ITA’s roll-out of artificial-intelligence trade-compliance tools that cut customs clearance times by 30 % in pilot programs at the Port of Los Angeles. Delegation members will test the platform in real time, generating data ITA plans to publish in a first-quarter 2026 white paper aimed at streamlining bilateral trade procedures.
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