Ambassador Karan K. Bhatia serves as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, having been nominated for this position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in November 2005.

As Deputy USTR, Ambassador Bhatia is a key member of U.S. Trade Representative Portman’s senior management team.  His portfolio includes overseeing U.S. trade relations with East Asia (including China and Japan), South Asia (including India), Southeast Asia, and Africa.  His responsibilities also include supervising USTR’s functional offices handling trade capacity building, environmental, labor, and pharmaceutical issues, and serving as USTR’s designee on the boards of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Prior to joining USTR, Ambassador Bhatia held the position of Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation from 2003-2005.  In this role, he crafted U.S. international and domestic aviation policy, and supervised the negotiation of international air services agreements with more than 20 countries, including landmark market liberalizing agreements with China and India.

Earlier in President Bush’s administration, Ambassador Bhatia served in the Department of Commerce, where he held the positions of Deputy Under Secretary and Chief Counsel for the Bureau of Industry and Security, the U.S. Government agency that administers U.S. export controls.  Prior to joining the Bush Administration in 2001, he was an equity partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where he was a member of the firm’s international and corporate groups. 

Ambassador Bhatia holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s from the London School of Economics, and a law degree from Columbia University.  He has written and spoken widely on issues of international trade and transportation.  From 1999-2003, he served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He is married to Sara Levine Bhatia and has two children.