International Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region Amidst U.S.-China Tensions (Online)
Location
Online via Zoom. Access details will be provided before the event. Please be mindful of the Time Zone of the presentation: Nov. 10, 7:00pm ET or Nov. 11, 8:00am HKT/SGT.
Online registration for this event has now closed. To join the event once it begins, please join us on Zoom. For questions, please contact Maggie Richard at maggiew@gwu.edu.
Event Description
Since 2017, trade disputes between the U.S. and China have spiraled into a full blown economic and trade war. U.S. tariff rates on Chinese imports rose from an average 3.1 percent "Most Favored Nation" rate in 2017 to above 20 percent in 2020, covering essentially all imports including both intermediate and consumer goods. China responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products ranging from soybeans to electrical equipment and autos. Certainly, this trade war has rippled throughout the region to affect the countries of the Asia-Pacific and beyond.
Join us for this online panel discussion with two prominent GW alumni working in the Asia-Pacific region, amidst these growing tensions: Chris Fussner, CCAS BA '79, founder and president of TransTechnology Worldwide, based in Singapore, and Frank Wong, ESIA BA '79, president of Scholastic Asia, based in Hong Kong. Joining them to moderate is Dr. Maggie Chen, professor of economics and international affairs at GW's Elliott School of International Affairs.
This event is co-sponsored by the Elliott School's Institute for International Economic Policy, as part of their annual U.S.-China Conference series.
Panelists
Christopher J. Fussner, CCAS BA '79, is Founder and President of TransTechnology Worldwide, a market leader in the sales and distribution of surface mount technology with offices in 9 countries in Asia and 3 countries in North America. Prior to forming TransTechnology in 1988, Mr. Fussner headed Far East Sales for Amistar Corporation based in Seoul, Korea and Singapore, where he was responsible for Sales and Service for electronics manufacturing industry machines in the Pacific, as well as the Western United States. Mr. Fussner started his international career working with relief and refugee resettlement in West Africa and Malaysia. He holds a B.A. in History and Asian Studies from GW, and a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He previously served on the board of advisors for GW's Elliott School of International Affairs.
Frank Wong, ESIA BA '79, brings extensive credentials in building international businesses. Before joining Scholastic Asia as President over 15 years ago, he was Managing Director of PepsiCo's food business in China and established best practices in sales execution and in-store merchandising. Prior to PepsiCo, Frank Wong spent 5 years with Nabisco, successfully building the company's international brand identity. Wong also held various marketing positions at Colgate-Palmolive in New York and was co-founder and President of a start-up venture to develop and market special electronic products for the visually impaired around the world. Mr. Wong was born in Hong Kong and speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. In addition to his degree from GW, he holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and did advanced studies at Harvard's JFK School of Government. He is the recipient of the 2015 Alumni Outstanding Service Award from the GW Alumni Association.
Maggie Chen is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. She has served as Director of GW's Institute for International Economic Policy and worked as an economist in the research department of the World Bank and a consultant for the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. Professor Chen's research areas include multinational firms, international trade, and regional trade agreements. Her work has been published in academic journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics. She is a co-editor of Economic Inquiry and an associate editor of Economic Modelling. Professor Chen received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her B.A. in Economics from Beijing Normal University.