U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai Visits Morgan to Discuss Trade Policy and Expanding Economic Prosperity to Historically Overlooked Communities

An Interdisciplinary Assembly of Students and Faculty Join the Ambassador for a Roundtable Moderated by Morgan Professor Dr. Jason Johnson

Morgan State University welcomed U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai for a special engagement with University officials, faculty and students to discuss trade policy and expanding economic prosperity to historically overlooked communities. A centerpiece to the Ambassador’s visit was an in-depth and robust roundtable discussion with students and faculty from various schools and disciplines associated with trade and commerce.

Moderated by Morgan professor and MSNBC commentator, Dr. Jason Johnson, the wide-ranging discussion with Ambassador Tai focused on the need to create inclusive trade policy that expands economic prosperity to the Black community and other marginalized populations, the residual impact COVID-19 is having on international supply chain demands, and the potential fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on global trade and commerce.

“We expect our students here at Morgan to lead the world from wherever they are, so we push them to be culturally and globally competent, enhancing their understanding of world and how it works,” said David K. Wilson, president of Morgan. “And so, it is quite auspicious for us to host Ambassador Tai here at the National Treasure to talk about dynamics and opportunities involved in global trade and the making of trade policy, of which our students were absolutely delighted to participate in.”

Advancing racial equity and supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are top priorities for the Biden-Harris Administration. As a member of the U.S. President’s Cabinet, Ambassador Tai is the principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy and her visit to Morgan is anchored in this commitment.

“There are a lot of a lot of things that we do in creating policy…we deal with tarrifs, we deal with negotiations, we deal with institutions such as a Trade Organization there’s a whole alphabet soup of acronyms that make up the conversation of trade policy, but at the end of the day, if you ask us what is it that we’re trying to accomplish…I think you can boil it down to one very simple idea which is we're trying to make the world a better place.”

Ambassador Tai witnessed firsthand highly proficient Morgan students well-versed in business, economics and commerce, international studies and political science during the hour-long session. Student and faculty representation from MSU’s Graves School of Business and Management, College of Liberal Arts, School of Social Work and Division of International Affairs participated.

“I particularly value and also really enjoy opportunities, like this one, to speak with students and educators and to discuss what we’re working on in Washington, but also to get out of Washington and to hear all of your perspectives,” added Ambassador Tai.

Pushing the administration’s agenda to think more holistically about humanity in economy, the Ambassador further elaborated on President Biden’s vision, “we are not all just consumers, but every consumer is also a worker, a wage earner, a producer, someone who has a place in a community and the communities are critical pieces of the fabric of our society.”

University Photographer was embedded with the pool of media covering the Ambassador’s visit. Experience the day’s event in a curated collection of photographs linked here.