Bridget McGovern, former assistant secretary for trade and economic security at DHS, joined Squire Patton as a partner in the public policy practice, the firm announced. McGovern will focus on national security and trade issues, including reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. She worked for over two years at DHS, where she served as an agency representative to CFIUS and helped implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.

Jennifer Solari, a former senior official with DOJ who prosecuted export violations, has joined BakerHostetler, the law firm announced this week. Her practice will focus on export controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other white collar issues.

Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who tracked the ways the U.S.-China phase one trade agreement fell short, has joined the State Department as chief economist.

As Josh Kagan leaves as assistant U.S. trade representative for labor, USTR Katherine Tai announced that Katy Mastman will replace him in an acting capacity. Tai said, "Josh’s leadership has been instrumental in our successful use of the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism and work to eradicate forced labor in supply chains."

Sarah Bianchi, deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia and Africa for more than two years, left the agency Jan. 29.

Rick Sofield, former partner at Vinson & Elkins, joined Debevoise & Plimpton as co-head of the national security practice based in Washington, D.C., the firm announced. Sofield will center his practice on security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and other cross-border transactions and investments. Sofield previously was director of the Foreign Investment Review Staff for DOJ's National Security Division.

Rimon Law added two partners and one associate to its international trade practice, the firm said. The new partners are James Min, former global chair of international trade law for the DHL Group and Mi-Yong Kim, former partner at LimNexus. The firm also added Chelsea Ellis, former LimNexus associate, as an associate. Rimon also announced the launch of its export controls and economic sanctions practice. Ellis, Kim and Min join partner Daanish Hamid in that practice. Sandra Bell, former deputy assistant commissioner at CBP's Office of International Trade, also recently joined the firm (see 2401120064).

Michael Vaccaro is the new leader of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, DDTC announced this week. Vaccaro, whose formal title is deputy assistant secretary for defense trade, started in the new role Jan. 16. He was most recently the principal deputy assistant secretary for industrial base policy at the Defense Department, and he also previously worked at the Bureau of Industry and Security, where he oversaw defense trade programs. Vaccaro is the first permanent head of DDTC since Mike Miller left the agency in 2022 to become the deputy director of DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (see 2212120004).

Chloe Cina, former head of global sanctions advisory at Deutsche Bank, joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in the national security group based in London, the firm announced. Cina joined Deutsche Bank in 2018 as director of the global sanctions and embargoes team prior to heading up the global sanctions advisory office.

Elizabeth Cannon, former global trade counsel with Microsoft, has joined the Bureau of Industry and Security as the executive director of the agency’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, a BIS spokesperson said. That office is responsible for implementing certain prohibitions on information and communications technology and services transactions, restrictions on foreign access to certain U.S. sensitive data, and more. Cannon’s first day was Jan. 22.