In a historic milestone for the Tibetan diaspora, Tsering Dhongthog, a Tibetan-origin US citizen, has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy & Negotiations in the US Government’s Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs.
What makes this appointment, announced on the US Department of State website, unique is that Dhongthog is the first American-Tibetan to be appointed in a senior position in the US State Department.
A doctorate in law (Juris Doctor) from the University of Michigan Law School, where she earned the Fiske Fellowship award for government service, Dhongthog was serving at the White House as Senior Advisor for International Trade at the National Economic Council and Director for the National Security Council’s International Economics Directorate prior to her latest appointment.
Dhongthog has an M.A. in China Studies from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Washington. A Seattle native, she speaks Tibetan and Chinese (Mandarin) and had started her career in the Department of Energy’s International Affairs Office covering China, Japan and South Korea, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce.
In her current appointment, she leads the overall State Department coordination on bilateral and multilateral trade policy, supply chains, and certain international economic organizations including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization.
She is also an experienced trade negotiator having served for nine years at the USTR where she was the Deputy Assistant for China, and detailed to the Office of the Ambassador, WTO & Multilateral Affairs, Southeast Asia and Pacific Affairs, and the American Institute in Taiwan.
Dhongthog served as Senior Advisor and Bilateral Affairs Director for the Office of China Coordination at the State Department. She has extensive experience working in the private sector in international law and government affairs before joining the government.
