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Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Thea Lee
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs, Department of Labor
Thea Lee is Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor since May 10, 2021. She was the President of the Economic Policy Institute from 2017 to 2021. From 1997 to 2017, Lee worked at the AFL-CIO and served as deputy chief of staff, policy director, and chief international economist. She served on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission from 2018 to 2020. Lee has also served on the State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, the Export-Import Bank Advisory Committee, and on the Boards of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, the Center for International Policy, and the Coalition on Human Needs. She currently serves on the boards of the National Women’s Law Center, as well as the national advisory board of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
On China
In a February 26, 2020 testimony before the House Committee on Ways and Means, Lee said that between 2001 and 2018, the growing U.S.–China trade deficit contributed to losses of 3.7 million U.S. jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to EPI research. She recommended a number of measures to address this trend, including trade enforcement measures that prioritize good jobs, workers’ rights, democracy, environmental compliance, and consumer safety; measures to address currency misalignment and the utilization of the U.S. government’s purchasing power to support good jobs, workforce development, responsible employers, and forward-looking environmental policies. These views echo her previous statement before the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee in 2018.
Notable Labor Department Activities
- On June 24, 2021, the Department of Labor added polysilicon from China to its “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.” As the State Department announced, this action is part of the joint efforts by the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce, and Department of Labor to address “China’s ongoing human rights abuses and use of forced labor in Xinjiang.”
Notable Speeches &Testimony
- “U.S.-China Trade and Competition,” Testimony before the House Committee on Ways and Means, February 26, 2020
- “Testimony before the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness for a hearing on ‘Market Access Challenges in China’,” April 11, 2018
Media Commentary & Public Perceptions
- “Longtime AFL-CIO Official Takes Up Key Labor Post In Biden Administration,” NPR, May 10, 2021
- “Thea Lee the Right Choice to Lead Critical Trade Post,” AFL-CIO, May 10, 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.*
