Commerce Names New BIS, ITA Deputy Undersecretaries

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross named Cordell Hull deputy undersecretary for industry and security and Joe Semsar the deputy undersecretary at the International Trade Administration, a Commerce spokesperson said Nov. 18. The two were appointed to their positions Nov. 12, the spokesperson said.

The announcement, first reported by Inside U.S. Trade, marks the first public shakeup within BIS since Nazak Nikakhtar stepped down from her position as acting undersecretary for industry and security in August (see 1908290044). The agency declined to comment on how Nikakhtar’s position will be filled.

Hull previously worked as a lawyer on Capitol Hill, including as general counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and as a lawyer for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He has served in or worked directly with Commerce throughout his career, the spokesperson said. Hull is expected to replace BIS’s current acting deputy undersecretary Carol Rose, who is also BIS’s chief financial officer and director of administration, according to the agency’s website.

Semsar was most recently listed as ITA’s acting undersecretary for international trade, according to ITA’s website. Semsar previously served as the chief of staff for Commerce’s deputy secretary and was involved in both “interagency and intra-agency management, oversight, and policy initiatives,” the spokesperson said. He was also the deputy secretary’s “primary adviser” on the administration's trade agenda, according to the spokesperson, serving in an advising role on export controls, Entity List filings and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

“Secretary Ross has the utmost confidence in these individuals and looks forward to continuing to work closely with them in their new capacities,” the spokesperson said.