Ref. Ares(2019)3157203 - 13/05/2019
Michael Punke
Michael Punke is Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services.
He has more than 25 years of experience in international trade and regulatory
issues.
Punke served from 2010 to 2017 as Deputy US Trade Representative and US
Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. He had lead
responsibility for international trade negotiations including the Trans-Atlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership, the Trade in Services Agreement, the
Environmental Goods Agreement, and all negotiations under the auspices of the
WTO. Punke also led the negotiations resulting in the 2013 Trade Facilitation
Agreement, the first fully multilateral agreement in the WTO’s twenty-year history,
and the 2015 Information Technology Agreement, the first WTO tariff reduction
agreement in seventeen years. During his tenure as US ambassador, Punke
engaged on a daily basis with counterparts from more than 160 countries, with
particular focus on China, the EU and its member states, India, and Brazil.
Punke served previously in government as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of
the United States Trade Representative (1995-1996); Director for International
Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council/National
Economic Council (1993-1995); and International Trade Counsel to Senator Max
Baucus (1991-1992), then chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on
International Trade.
From 1998 to 2003, Punke was a member of the International Trade and
Regulatory Practice Group at Mayer, Brown and Platte’s Washington office,
including three years as partner.
From 2003 to 2010, Punke lived in Missoula, Montana, where he continues to
keep his family home. He worked as a writer, consultant, and adjunct professor
at the University of Montana. He is the author of the novel,
The Revenant, basis
for the award-winning film, as well as two works of narrative nonfiction and
several screenplays.
The Revenant has been translated into more than twenty
languages and was an international bestseller, including four weeks as a #1 New
York Times bestseller.
Punke received his BA with distinction in International Relations from George
Washington University and his JD with Specialization in International Legal
Affairs from Cornell Law School, where he was elected editor-in-chief of the
Cornell International Law Journal.