Maria Pagan

María Luisa Pagán^[1] (also spelled as Maria Pagan) is an American attorney who had served as the U.S. deputy trade representative in the Geneva office. Pagan was formerly the Deputy General Counsel of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), giving legal advice about trade negotiations, agreements, and regulations.^[2]

María Pagán
Official portrait, 2022
United States Deputy Trade Representative for the Office of Geneva
In office March 14, 2022 – January 20, 2025
President	Joe Biden
Leader	Katherine Tai
Acting United States Trade Representative
In office January 20, 2021 – March 18, 2021
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Robert Lighthizer
Succeeded by	Katherine Tai
In office January 20, 2017 – March 2, 2017
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Michael Froman
Succeeded by	Robert Lighthizer
Personal details
Born	Puerto Rico
Education	Tufts University (BA) Georgetown University (MA, JD)

Biography

Born in Puerto Rico, Pagán received her bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master's degree and Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. After being a legal adviser at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1993 to 2003, Pagán has been working at the USTR. She had a leading role in several trade negotiation teams.^[3][2]

During the transition from the Obama to the Trump governments, she served as the acting United States Trade Representative.^[4] On January 20, 2021, she once again assumed the position of acting United States Trade Representative.^[5] In August 2021, President Joe Biden appointed her to serve as Envoy to the World Trade Organization (WTO).^[6]

Deputy U.S Trade Representative

Pagan was nominated by President Biden on August 10, 2021.^[7] Hearings were held on Pagan's nomination by the Senate's Finance Committee on October 26, 2021. The committee reported the nomination favorably to the Senate floor on November 17, 2021 by a 27-1 vote.^[8] On March 10, 2022, the Senate confirmed Pagan to be the next U.S trade representative in Geneva, Switzerland by a vote of 80-19.^[9]