Jeffrey G. Weiss

Partner, International Trade Group
Venable

Biography

Jeff Weiss is a partner in Venable’s International Trade Group in Washington, DC. He focuses his practice on resolving market access issues related to product and digital regulation and standards; and providing counseling, representation, and strategic advice on international trade negotiations, technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment, and other economic policy matters. Jeff provides advice and counsel on matters arising under the WTO, NAFTA/USMCA, and other trade agreements and U.S. trade and customs law. He also represents clients before various White House and congressional offices, executive agencies, and departments.

Prior to joining Venable, Jeff served as the Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Planning at the U.S. Department of Commerce; the Associate Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the White House Office of Management and Budget; and in several roles at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, including: Senior Director for Technical Barriers to Trade, Assistant General Counsel, and Assistant Legal Advisor at the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. While in government, he served as the chief U.S. negotiator on standards and conformity assessment matters at the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade and in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the chief U.S. negotiator for digital economy at the G20; and the chief NAFTA lawyer at USTR. He also co-chaired regulatory cooperation dialogues with Canada, Mexico, and the European Union while at OIRA; and led development of U.S. policies on international regulatory cooperation and standards, the U.S. strategy on international cybersecurity standardization, and best practices for U.S. port communities to improve U.S. supply chain competitiveness.

Jeff is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Law School, and the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of: the New York and DC bars; the Board of Directors of ASTM International; the Council of the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice; the Advisory Committee of the USC Marshall Center for Global Supply Chain Management; and the Board of the Council of the Great Lakes Region. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Rebecca, and two children, Annabelle and Jackson.