I take personal umbrage when China FDI lawyers get smacked around. Here's a heads-up from Bloomberg:
Gary Locke, President Barack Obama’s pick to be commerce secretary, persuaded Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2006 to visit Seattle, where he was feted at the mansion of Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.
Both sides benefited from the trip, arranged by Locke as an attorney specializing in China trade. Before Hu arrived, China agreed to require computer makers to load legal software on new machines, a key to unlocking the $3 billion market to the maker of Windows software. Days later, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft announced plans to invest $3.7 billion in China.
Earlier, when he was governor of Washington state, Locke, now 59, helped lumber-company Weyerhaeuser Co. and aircraft maker Boeing Co. win business with China. As he seeks the new post, and as secretary should he be confirmed, Locke may find his deals seen in a different light by lawmakers, unions and U.S. factory owners who say trading with China poses more peril than promise.
I added the emphasis.
You know, the deals that the article cites an examples are rather significant. Not only are we talking about some very important US MNCs, but these companies also are huge US employers that depend heavily on exports.
Going further, let's take a closer look at that Microsoft deal. The arrangement between Beijing, D.C., the BSA/Microsoft and other associations regarding the loading of legal software on new PCs was huge and has led to a very real decrease in the software piracy rate in China. In the digital media piracy area, I can't recall any good news in the ten years I've been in China — except for that initiative and the related one involving government offices. I would love to see Locke hit back in a Congressional hearing on that one.
The problem is that Locke, a partner in an international law firm’s China division, has advocated for Microsoft, Starbucks, and banking, timber and shipping interests in recent years, raising potential conflicts for him as head of a department charged with promoting U.S. trade around the globe.
Yeah, I suppose I could dream up some potential conflicts of interest if I tried really hard, but to be more realistic, what was Locke doing as an international FDI lawyer? Advocating for U.S. companies overseas. What is the primary job of the US Secretary of Commerce (with respect to international issues)? Advocating for U.S. companies overseas.
Why is this somehow so difficult to understand?
Yet if he’s confirmed as commerce secretary, Chinese trade issues – including some with direct impact on the companies he went to bat for – are likely to be high on the agenda for Locke, who is the first Chinese-American governor.
Software piracy issues would rank among them. Microsoft and other software developers have lobbied both the U.S. and Chinese governments to crack down on profit-draining practice.
OK, this is just stupid. When would the positions of Microsoft on piracy issues ever conflict with those of the U.S. government?
An administration official brushed off questions about what steps, if any, would be necessary to ensure Locke complied with Obama’s ethics policy. Instead, the official said that Locke didn’t act as a lawyer for the companies named in this story, with the exception of Microsoft. The other companies likely were clients of Locke’s law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, suggested the official, who did not respond to requests to release a full list of the clients Locke represented in the last two years.
What's the standard here? Locke wasn't a lobbyist in the traditional sense. Some of his clients were multinationals and of course had trade with China — that was his frickin' job. Gah.
Side note: I like that the press asked the firm to release a list of Locke's clients. That's just plain ridiculous.
I suppose this all hits a bit too close to home. What Locke did with Davis, Wright is essentially what I've been doing for a decade, albeit at a lower level and with different law firms. For his deals to be scrutinized, and for him to be demonized (and I do expect some of this) really is a shame. Moreover, it will all be for show, as the guy is reportedly well liked, extremely well qualified and sure to be confirmed by the US Senate.