Keir Whitson

Senior Trade Advisor, Washington, DC

Biography

Overview

Keir Whitson has nearly 20 years of technical experience in the antidumping and countervailing duty legal field. Mr. Whitson began his career as a trade compliance analyst in Import Administration (now Enforcement & Compliance), which is the US Department of Commerce agency responsible for enforcing US trade remedy laws.

Mr. Whitson joined White & Case LLP in 2001, where he specialized in antidumping proceedings involving "non-market economy" countries, including China and Vietnam. His experience in the early 2000s included defending Vietnam's aquaculture sector in the first US trade remedy action ever filed against Vietnam.

In 2004, Mr. Whitson co-founded a boutique law firm focused on China trade remedy defense work and, along with his partners, secured a landmark victory before the US Department of Commerce for one of China's largest exporters of frozen warmwater shrimp. In addition to this win for China's aquaculture industry, Mr. Whitson and his team represented successfully China's largest exporters of brake rotors, canned mushrooms, fresh garlic and other industrial, agricultural and consumer products.

Mr. Whitson rejoined White & Case LLP in 2010 as a senior advisor. Since rejoining White & Case, he and his colleagues have secured for China's automotive parts and shipping container industries unanimous negative determinations before the US International Trade Commission in separate antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings involving imports of steel wheels and 53-foot domestic containers.

Mr. Whitson, who is conversationally proficient in Mandarin Chinese, earned his Master's degree in China studies from the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

Education
MA
University of Washington
Jackson School of International Studies
BA
Alaska Pacific University
Languages
English
Mandarin

Experience