Jensen Fiskin (’27)

This summer I worked at the USTR Office of Agriculture Affairs. The USTR is a small agency that is tasked with analyzing, negotiating, and implementing executive branch trade policy. I primarily worked on analyzing various countries’ trade agreement offers to the United States. This work included the quantitative analysis of proposed tariff schedules and investigations into non-tariff barriers to trade such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures. I also engaged agricultural stakeholders in meetings, attended negotiations, and built an economic model of international agricultural trade for continued use by the office. The creation of this model deepened my knowledge of agribusiness and economic data science while enabling me to collaborate with other offices at the USTR.

 

My time at the USTR expanded my subject knowledge in the economics, policy, and logistics of international trade. Additionally, the internship showed me first-hand the procedures behind the creation of international trade policy and gave me new exposure to the role of scientific input and expertise in the executive branch, the factors that determine successful trade agreements, and the relationship between industry and government. Additionally, engaging with agricultural stakeholders gave me new perspectives on various issues in agriculture. These experiences inspired me to continue to help make global food systems sustainable, ethical, and secure.