Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Bush (43) Administration. In that capacity, Lavin served as lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was responsible for commercial policy, export promotion, and trade negotiations across the globe. Lavin was previously U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, where he helped negotiate the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
In the private sector, Lavin served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Bank of America and Citibank.
Lavin also served in the Bush (41) and Reagan Administrations, working in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, National Security Council, and White House. In the Reagan Administration, Lavin served as White House Political Director.
Lavin earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service and an M.S. in Chinese Language and History (both Georgetown); an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from SAIS (Johns Hopkins); and an M.B.A. in Finance from Wharton (Pennsylvania).
He is a columnist for Forbes.com and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere.
Lavin is the author of “Inside the Reagan White House” (Post Hill Press), “The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce” (Penguin), co-author of “Export Now” (Wiley), and author of “Home Front to Battlefront” (Ohio University Press), a World War II history book.
Lavin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Advisory Board of the Asia Society of Northern California, and the Advisory Board of ECIPE, a Brussels think-tank. Lavin has participated in two humanitarian missions to Ukraine. He formerly served as a Lt Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves.