WASHINGTON - The White House has announced President Bush's intention to nominate Associate U.S. Trade Representative Josette Sheeran Shiner to be a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador. The nomination will require Senate approval. Ambassador Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., who currently holds the position, is resigning to return to the private sector in his home state of Utah, where he will become Chairman and CEO of Huntsman Family Holdings Corporation.

"I'm very pleased that President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Josette Shiner to be one of the USTR deputies. She has played a key role in helping us regain American trade leadership by launching global trade negotiations in Doha, securing Trade Promotion Authority, and advancing U.S. Free Trade Agreements," Zoellick said. "Josette will now help us press our trade liberalization agenda forward by supervising a number of our important negotiating teams."

"Jon Huntsman has been a terrific asset and an integral member of our team here at USTR. His wisdom, judgment and counsel have proven invaluable in managing our trade relations, particularly with Asia, a region he knows well. Everyone at USTR will miss Jon and we all wish him the best as he returns home to Utah. He has worked tirelessly to advance the economic interests of American exporters, entrepreneurs, farmers and workers," Zoellick said.

There are two other Deputy USTRs, Ambassador Peter Allgeier, and the U.S. representative to the WTO, Ambassador Linnet Deily.

Josette S. Shiner has served as the Associate USTR for Policy and Communications since May 16, 2001. She has been a key policy strategist on trade and globalization issues and supervised both USTR's communications and outreach operations as well as efforts to solve specific negotiating and policy problems.

Ms. Shiner helped direct the U.S. preparation and participation in the WTO trade talks in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. During her tenure as Associate USTR, Ms. Shiner has participated in many negotiations, including those that led to China's and Taiwan's WTO accession and the launch of the U.S.-South African Customs Union Free Trade Agreement.

In addition to her engagement with all important trade issues, Ms. Shiner directly supervised USTR policy offices dealing with industry, environment, and labor affairs. Helping to forge effective environment and labor policies became a key part of the successful effort to reestablish the executive-legislative trade partnership, which was embodied in Congressional approval of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in 2002.

Ms. Shiner directed USTR outreach to the public and private sectors, expanding domestic support for trade and putting in place a plan to expand Congressional and public participation in the Doha negotiations. She implemented a new series of briefings and discussions for Congressional staff, USTR's trade advisors, the press and the public using the Internet. These webcasts provided live, up-to-the minute briefings by U.S. negotiators and trade specialists to interested U.S. stakeholders.

Ms. Shiner has a wide-ranging background in policy, journalism and business. Before joining USTR, she was a managing director of Starpoint Solutions, a Wall Street technology firm that works with Fortune 500 clients. Prior to Starpoint, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Empower America, founded by Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett, where she developed its agenda of technology policy, trade, education reform and tax reform.

Ms. Shiner was a journalist for more than two decades. After serving as an international correspondent, she became deputy managing editor and then managing editor of the Washington Times. She has twice served as a Pulitzer Prize juror, including for foreign reporting. Ms. Shiner is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In March 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Ms. Shiner to the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. She has served on a number of boards, including the Washington Urban League, and has received numerous journalistic awards including the Press Award for Journalistic Achievement by the National Order of Women Legislators and a national award for developing and promoting African-American journalists. In 1997, Washingtonian magazine named Ms. Shiner as one of Washington's 100 Most Powerful Women. Originally from West Orange, New Jersey, Ms. Shiner is a graduate of the University of Colorado.

Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. served as Deputy United States Trade Representative with the rank of Ambassador. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2001.

Ambassador Huntsman oversaw USTR activities with Africa and Asia. He played an important role in launching global trade negotiations in Doha, Qatar in November 2001, particularly in the process of assisting the simultaneous accession of China and Taiwan into the WTO. He participated in the development of the Administration's Enterprise for ASEAN Initiative (EAI), an initiative to advance trade liberalization between the U.S. and the region, through which countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are working toward.

In addition, Ambassador Huntsman directed U.S. trade liberalization efforts at APEC meetings. He played an important role in helping to complete the Singapore FTA, as well as laying a firm foundation upon which to launch the just started FTA negotiations with Australia. In addition, he managed and led U.S. trade efforts with Japan, to deregulate and open up its economy. Ambassador Huntsman also helped to launch or re-energize Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFAs) and trade dialogues with countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Vietnam and several nations of sub-Saharan Africa.

Previously, Ambassador Huntsman served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Huntsman Corporation, a private firm, with annual sales of $8 billion and over 16,000 employees around the world. Mr. Huntsman also served as President and CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, which is responsible for the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah..

Mr. Huntsman has spent much of his career in public service. Earlier, he served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, where following unanimous Senate confirmation, Mr. Huntsman became the youngest U.S. Ambassador in recent history. Later, he was Honorary Counsul General of the Republic of Singapore. Mr. Huntsman's prior government experience includes service as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, and earlier as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Trade Development Bureau. He also served as a White House staff assistant during President Reagan's first term. While residing in Utah he was named by Governor Mike Leavitt as Chairman of Envision Utah, a public/private partnership tasked with developing the state's growth strategies for the future.

Ambassador Huntsman was born in Palo Alto, California and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He is married to the former Mary Katherine Cooper of Orlando, Florida. They have six children, one of whom was recently adopted from China. Mr. Huntsman's foreign language is Mandarin Chinese, which he has studied for over 20 years. He was named by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland as a Global Leader for Tomorrow.