Christine Peterson facilitates sustainable and inclusive international opportunities for Los Angeles. She supports international trade growth, strengthens the City’s relationships with foreign governments and businesses, and attracts foreign direct investment to Los Angeles. Christine encourages international, cutting-edge companies and entrepreneurs to expand operations, launch innovation centers, and open manufacturing facilities in L.A. to create good-paying jobs for Angelenos. She also works to equip small businesses with resources, tools, and financing to sell their products and services to consumers around the world and grow their businesses locally. Christine led the creation and launch of Global LA – a new public-private partnership and nonprofit to promote LA globally to attract job-creating international investment to LA ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games with a focus on underserved communities. She advises the Mayor and her team on international trade, investment, and economic issues and has led or participated in virtual and in-person trade and economic missions on behalf of the City to the UK, Mexico, New Zealand, Kenya, Vietnam, Japan, and Indonesia.
Previously, Christine developed U.S. intellectual property (IP) and innovation trade policy in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and negotiated IP commitments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. She also led the IP Working Group of the U.S.-UK Trade and Investment Working Group during Brexit. As chair of the interagency Special 301 committee, she managed the U.S. government’s annual reviews and reports of IP protection and enforcement in countries and marketplaces around the world (“Special 301 Report” and “Notorious Markets List”). She also led the IP reviews and negotiations to determine Ukraine’s eligibility and reinstate benefits for Argentina under the Generalized System of Preferences. Prior, she worked in the International Trade Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce where she assisted IP-intensive companies in developing export strategies and addressing trade barriers. She holds a JD magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law and a BA in Art History with honors from Smith College.