Former Trump deputy Everett Eissenstat has moved on to GM at vice president of Global Public Policy.
General Motors has recruited a veteran of the Trump administration with broad experience on trade issues to serve as senior vice president of Global Public Policy.
Everett Eissenstat will assume his new effective immediately and he will report to GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, GM said.
Eissenstat, 55, had been with the Trump White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council from June 2017 to July 2018. Jointly appointed to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.
In recent years, Eissenstat, who has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations, had led the White House international economic team responsible for the development and coordination of policies related to international energy, international trade and development finance institutions, GM noted in its announcement.
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GM, like other automakers, is now embroiled in a fight about tariffs, which Barra has warned could lead to the loss of jobs in the United States. GM, analysts have noted, has also more at stake because of its extensive manufacturing operations in Mexico than almost any other automaker in discussions on revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Eissenstat will report directly to General Motors CEO Mary Barra.
Barra has said GM believes NAFTA, which the automaker championed when it first approved 25 years ago, needs to be modernized but is opposed to abandoning it as President Trump has suggested in public comments and on twitter.
In this role at the White House, Eissenstat also served as the United States lead negotiator for the G-20, APEC and G-7 international economic summits.
“Everett Eissenstat has had a distinguished career in public policy managing complex issues around the world,” said Barra. “His broad experience interacting at the highest levels of government, both within the U.S. and globally, and his track record for partnering and building relationships on both sides of the aisle make him a perfect fit to represent GM and our employees on key policy issues.”
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Prior to his role at the White House, Eissenstat served as chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee from 2011-2017, where he managed international economic issues. Before that, he was with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Americas from 2006-2011, where he negotiated and implemented international trade agreements with foreign governments and partnered with members of Congress on trade legislation.
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Through his work in Congress, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House, Eissenstat has developed broad and deep experience on issues important to the automotive industry, including international trade and regulatory matters, energy policy and sustainable development policies, GM noted.
During the past two decades, he has also worked on every facet of U.S. international economic policy, including the NAFTA and the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement as well as playing a critical role in the passage of legislation modernizing U.S. trade and customs law.
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Eissenstat, a native of Oklahoma, holds a juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Spanish from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.