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Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Sarah Bianchi
Deputy US Trade Representative
Sarah Bianchi is President Biden’s current nominee for Deputy United States Trade Representatives for Asia. She is a Senior Managing Director at Evercore ISI, a global investment banking advisory firm, where she leads the institute’s United States public policy research. After the November 2020 election, Bianchi was named as one of the five people that led the domestic-side work of then President-Elect Biden’s COVID transition team. From 2011 to 2014, Bianchi served as Deputy Assistant to President Obama and Director of Policy for then Vice President Joe Biden. Bianchi has also served as Chair of the Policy Advisory Board at the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware and as head of global policy development at AirBnB.
On China
During her confirmation hearing, Bianchi committed to “making it a priority to combat China’s unfair trade practices” and pledged to work with allies to secure China’s compliance with its trade obligations. She also said that she would work with Ambassador Tai to deepen trade engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and create a high-standard alternative to China’s influence in the region.
In a public USTR statement on Bianchi’s nomination, Ambassador Tai noted that Bianchi’s deep knowledge of domestic policy, experiences on Capitol Hill, in the White House and in the private sector will be “a great resource to USTR as we integrate domestic and international economic goals.” An The American Prospect article, however, criticized Biden’s nomination of Bianchi, saying that Bianchi “has no background whatsoever on China.”
Media Commentary & Public Perceptions
- “Senate Finance advances deputy USTR nominees,” Politico, July 13, 2021
- “Official: Deputy USTR pick Bianchi set to take on Asia portfolio,” Inside U.S. Trade, April 19, 2021
- “Biden’s Unforced Error: Naming Sarah Bianchi to a Top China Job,” The American Prospect, April 16, 2021
Page Last Updated: August 2, 2021
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*