Karan Bhatia

Early life and education

Bhatia's family is originally from Uttar Pradesh, but he was born in Washington D.C. His father is a retired official for the World Bank and of Indian descent, moving to the United States in the 1960s. His mother is English and retired as well. He attended Princeton where he received a bachelor's degree in International Relations. He went on to earn his master's degree from the London School of Economics prior to attending law school at Columbia University School of Law.

Early career

Bhatia clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Milton Pollack upon graduating from law school. Bhatia was a former partner with the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. He was the firm's administrative partner for its international aviation and defense practice area as well as a member of its international and corporate groups. Bhatia also worked many pro bono cases including representing victims of the Oklahoma City bombing during the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. In addition to his work as an attorney, Bhatia was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center where he co-taught international civil litigation from 1999 until 2003.

Department of Commerce

Bhatia began working at the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2001 as chief counsel for export control administration. Bhatia was appointed in 2002 to the position of Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for the Bureau of Industry and Security. He was the second Indian American in the Bush Administration to hold such a senior-level position, after Bobby Jindal. His duties at the Department included assisting then-Under Secretary Kenneth I. Juster in overseeing the management and policy-making within the Bureau of Industry and Security.

U.S Department of Transportation

Bhatia was nominated by President George W. Bush in September 2003 for the position of Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs. During his time at the Department, he was the key international policy advisor to Secretary Norman Mineta. He was involved with negotiating international air services agreements on behalf of the United States, including the air route agreement between the US Department of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Administration of China that allowed both the United States and China to increase the amount of air travel between the two countries.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Bhatia to the position of Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, a position that holds the rank of Ambassador. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate in October 2005. During his time in appointment, Bhatia oversaw the negotiation of the U.S. - Korea Free Trade Agreement, the first free trade agreement between the United States and a major Asian economy. He also led U.S. negotiations with Vietnam on the U.S. - Vietnam Bilateral WTO Accession Agreement which allowed American companies to have more access to the Vietnamese marketplace. He also signed the agreement on behalf of the United States.

General Electric

It was announced that Bhatia would be leaving the U.S Trade Representative's Office and returning to the private sector, becoming the Vice President and Senior Counsel of International Law & Policy for General Electric in 2008.

Personal life

Bhatia is married (Sara) and has two children.He also has a dog named Molly and a cat named Gudduuuu.