New Head at CITA
After a nearly three-month vacancy, a new director has been found to head the U.S. government organization that imposes apparel and textile quotas on foreign-made goods.
Matt Priest, a veteran government worker, has been named to the post once occupied by Jim Leonard, former head of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA). The CITA job also carries the title of deputy assistant secretary for textiles and apparel at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Priest’s appointment was announced Dec. 20 by Frank Lavin, the undersecretary of trade at the Department of Commerce. “Matt Priest provides sound advice and key insight regarding textile and apparel issues,” Lavin said in a statement.
In his new post, Priest will be responsible for administering U.S. textilequota agreements, formulating trade policy, and doing research and analysis on textile issues. Last year, CITA was responsible for imposing apparel and textile quotas on 34 categories of Chinese-made goods until the end of 2008.
Most recently, Priest served as the senior adviser to the assistant secretary for import administration at the Department of Commerce. Prior to that, Priest served as the legislative director for Rep. Sue Myrick (R.–N.C.), where he was an adviser on textile, trade and economic issues. —Deborah Belgum
