Steve Francis is the new assistant director of the interagency Global Trade Investigations Division (GTID) and director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, ICE Homeland Security Investigations said in a news release. The Counter-Proliferation Investigations (CPI) Unit and the Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2) are both now part of GTID, a "newly-formed division that was created as part of a headquarters reorganization," ICE said. “With this realignment, the IPR Center is better positioned to maximize the effectiveness of its 25-agency partnerships in the fight against intellectual property theft and trade law violations,” Francis said. “We value these partnerships and the collaboration that further strengthens them.” Francis previously served as the special agent in charge of HSI operations in Michigan and Ohio and was involved in creating the Global Trade Task Force, another interagency effort (see 1903200033).

Crane Worldwide Logistics recently opened a new office in Belgium, the company said in a news release. The office is near the Brussels International Airport and will have Fons de Haan as managing director.

Squire Patton opened an international trade practice in Madrid, the law firm said in a June 3 news release. José María Viñals, previously head of the Madrid office for Lupicinio Abogados, will join the practice, it said.

Wiggin and Dana has added David Laufman, former chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm said in a press release. Laufman will co-chair the firm’s National Security Practice Group and will join their White-Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practice Group and the International Trade Compliance Group, it said.

President Donald Trump will appoint Dow CEO James Fitterling and Joseph Nicosia of Louis Dreyfus members of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation for four-year terms, the White House said.

The State Department announced that R. Clarke Cooper was confirmed April 30 in the Senate as the assistant secretary for Political Military Affairs, in a May 2 notice. Cooper previously served as director of intelligence planning for Joint Special Operations Command’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Force -- National Capital Region, State said, and was a George W. Bush administration U.S. alternate representative to the United Nations Security Council. The White House advanced the nomination to the Senate, for a second time, in January.

The Plastics Industry Association added Bradley Hoppe, previously a marketing specialist in export finance at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service's Office of Trade Programs, as director of global packaging regulations, the group said in a news release. Hoppe will "lead the association’s regulatory and advocacy programs and projects that relate to the safety of plastic packaging," it said.

Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council who represented the U.S. during China trade talks this year, will join Akin Gump as a partner in June, the firm announced April 25. “The trade landscape has rarely been as important to companies around the world as it is now, and Clete will be an invaluable resource for clients seeking to navigate this terrain,” said Brian Pomper, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice.

Daniel Feldman, previously with Akin Gump, joined the Covington & Burling Global Problem Solving group, the law firm said in a news release. Feldman's practice includes "advising on global political risks, corporate social responsibility and sustainability matters, and compliance with U.S. law and international best practices on global policy concerns, including sanctions and anti-corruption efforts," it said. He was a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department before joining the private sector.

Skadden Arps partner Joseph Barloon will become general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, after current general counsel Stephen Vaughn departs in a few weeks, USTR announced April 22.