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U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Administration Grant Aldonas to Visit Vilnius on October 5-9, 2002

October 4, 2002

Vilnius, October 4, 2002 -- The Embassy of the United States of America in Vilnius is pleased to announce that, the United States Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, Mr. Grant Aldonas, will visit Vilnius on October 5-9, 2002.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce provide practical information to help US businesses select markets and products; ensure that they have access to international markets as required by trade agreements; safeguard the US market from unfair competition from dumped and subsidized imports.

The Under Secretary for International Trade oversees ITA's four units: The Commercial Service, Trade Development, Market Access and Compliance, and Import Administration.

U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas will meet with American Embassy officials, President Valdas Adamkus, Seimas Conservative Faction Leader Andrius Kubilius, Minister of Economy Petras Čėsna, Director of Lithuanian Development Agency Remigijus Kabečius, Mayor of Kaunas Giedrius Donatas Ašmys, and others.

Mr. Grant Aldonas will visit Kraft Foods and Krasme facilities, Real Legal offices, and Chamber of Commerce in Kaunas.

A meeting with President Valdas Adamkus is scheduled at 09.00 h on Monday, October 7, 2002.

A joint Undersecretary of Commerce G. Aldonas and American Chamber of Commerce news conference will take place at the American Center Library (Pranciškonų 3/6, Vilnius) at 17.35 on Monday, 7 October 2002.

Please find Mr.Grant Aldonas biography below.

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International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

GRANT ALDONAS

Under Secretary for
International Trade Administration

Grant Aldonas was confirmed as Under Secretary for International Trade on May 10, 2001. As head of the International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department for Commerce, Grant is responsible for managing 2,400 ITA employees and advising the Secretary of Commerce on international trade issues.

His priorities include expanding export opportunities for American business, particularly small and medium-sized and minority-owned enterprises, enforcing trade agreements to ensure that American exporters obtain the benefits of the bargain the United States reached in previous negotiations, and the rigorous enforcement of U.S. trade law to deter unfair trade practices that distort markets and deny U.S. firms the opportunity to compete on an equal basis with their foreign competition.

Prior to joining the Department, Grant served as Chief International Trade Counsel to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. In that capacity, he advised the Chairman on all international trade and economic matters before the Committee. During Grant's tenure on the Committee, the Senate and the Congress passed a number of significant trade bills, including the Trade and Development Act of 2000, the grant of Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, legislation replacing the Foreign Sales Corporation provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, and a series of tariff bills.

Before joining the Finance Committee, Grant was a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Miller & Chevalier. There, his practice focused on international trade, investment, tax and litigation. While at Miller & Chevalier, Grant served concurrently as Counsel to the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform and as an adviser to the Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment. He was appointed Chair of the American Bar Association's ("ABA") Task Force on Multilateral Investment Agreements, and served separately as Vice Chair of the Committees on Trade and Foreign Investment in the United States of the ABA's Section of International Law and Practice.

Grant served previously in government with both the Department of State and the Office of the United States Trade Representative ("USTR"). At USTR, Grant was Director of South American and Caribbean Affairs. Before joining USTR, Grant served as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.

Grant is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, with a B.A. in International Relations, in 1975, and received his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1979. Grant is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, teaching courses on the resolution of international trade disputes.