Speaker

Michael PUNKE

Vice President for Global Public Policy - Amazon Web Services

Michael Punke is Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services.  He has more than 25 years of experience in international trade and regulatory issues.

Punke served from 2010 to 2017 as Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.  He had lead responsibility for international trade negotiations including the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Trade in Services Agreement, the Environmental Goods Agreement, and all negotiations under the auspices of the WTO.  Punke also led the negotiations resulting in the 2013 Trade Facilitation Agreement, the first fully multilateral agreement in the WTO’s twenty-year history, and the 2015 Information Technology Agreement, the first WTO tariff reduction agreement in seventeen years.  During his tenure as US ambassador, Punke engaged on a daily basis with counterparts from more than 160 countries, with particular focus on China, the EU and its member states, India, and Brazil.

Punke served previously in government as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (1995-1996); Director for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council/National Economic Council (1993-1995); and International Trade Counsel to Senator Max Baucus (1991-1992), then chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade.

From 1998 to 2003, Punke was a member of the International Trade and Regulatory Practice Group at Mayer, Brown and Platte’s Washington office, including three years as partner.

From 2003 to 2010, Punke lived in Missoula, Montana, where he continues to keep his family home.  He worked as a writer, consultant, and adjunct professor at the University of Montana.  He is the author of the novel, The Revenant, basis for the award-winning film, as well as two works of narrative nonfiction and several screenplays.  The Revenant has been translated into more than twenty languages and was an international bestseller, including four weeks as a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Punke received his BA with distinction in International Relations from George Washington University and his JD with Specialization in International Legal Affairs from Cornell Law School, where he was elected editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.

Punke is married to Traci Silk Punke and they have two children.  He is an active sportsman and outdoorsman.