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WASHINGTON -- On September 15, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim Kolbe will be appointed to the president's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

“I am grateful that these highly qualified men and women have agreed to lend their talents to this administration as we work to boost our nation’s exports over the next five years," Obama said. "When ninety-five percent of the world’s customers are beyond our borders, it is crucial that we compete for that business and those jobs. And we need to do so in a way that is responsible and fair, and that levels the playing field for American workers. I look forward to the wise counsel these individuals will provide on these issues as we work together in the coming months and years.”

The Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations is tasked with providing policy advice on trade matters, and is made up of members who broadly represent key sectors and groups of the economy. Obama will announce additional members to this Committee at a later date.

Jim Kolbe currently serves as a Senior Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He advises on trade matters as well as issues of effectiveness of U.S. assistance to foreign countries, on U.S.-EU relationships, and on migration and its relationship to development. He is co-chair of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Development with Gunilla Carlsson, the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation. The Taskforce consists of experts from both sides of the Atlantic from governments, NGOs, foundations and corporations - it will make strategic recommendations on development for the new American administration as well as to European audiences. He also serves as an adjunct Professor in the College of Business at the University of Arizona, and serves on a part time basis as strategic consultant with McLarty Associates.

For 22 years, Jim Kolbe served in the United States House of Representatives, elected for eleven consecutive terms, from 1985 to 2007. He represented the Eighth (previously designated the Fifth) congressional district, comprising the southeastern part of Arizona with Tucson as the main population area.

While in Congress, Jim served for 20 years on the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, responsible for deciding the allocation of the budget and the terms for spending appropriated funds. He was chairman of the Treasury, Post Office and Related Agencies subcommittee for four years, and for the last six years in Congress, he chaired the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Agencies subcommittee.


The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting better understanding and cooperation between North America and Europe on transatlantic and global issues.

GMF does this by supporting individuals and institutions working in the transatlantic sphere, by convening leaders and members of the policy and business communities, by contributing research and analysis on transatlantic topics, and by providing exchange opportunities to foster renewed commitment to the transatlantic relationship. In addition, GMF supports a number of initiatives to strengthen democracies.

Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC, GMF has six offices in Europe: Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Ankara, and Bucharest. GMF also has smaller representations in Bratislava, Turin, and Stockholm.