Roop Bhatti is a partner in Cassidy Levy Kent’s Washington DC office. Roop brings more than a decade of experience in international trade law and policy matters. Her practice focuses on trade remedies litigation and assisting clients in the development and advancement of trade-related policy initiatives before Congress and the Executive Branch. Prior to joining the firm, she spent six years at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), including appointments as the Commission’s Chief of Staff as well as Counsel to Commissioner Jason E. Kearns.
Previously, in private practice, Roop represented U.S. industries, including producers of softwood lumber and frozen warmwater shrimp, in proceedings before the USITC, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Earlier in her career, she was a policy advisor to a consortium of North American apparel companies.
Government Service
Roop served in various capacities at the USITC from 2018 to 2023, including for five years as Counsel to Commissioner Jason E. Kearns. In this role, she advised on legal and policy issues related to antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and five-year reviews under Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 and global safeguard investigations under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 involving a range of industries (e.g., agriculture, chemicals, consumer goods, and steel products). She advised on numerous complex legal issues, including the recent revival of the material retardation injury analysis, and the defense of Commission determinations on appeal before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) binational panels. She also advised on economic investigations under Section 332 and intellectual property rights cases under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and technical assistance requests from the Executive and Legislative branches.
As the Commission’s Chief of Staff from 2020 to 2022, Roop oversaw all substantive and administrative functions associated with management of the USITC. She liaised with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Commission’s committees of jurisdiction in Congress (i.e., the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance). During her tenure, Roop managed the Commission’s implementation of new mandates under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and helped execute a Congressional budget outreach strategy resulting in the largest increase to the Commission’s budget.
As an Attorney Advisor in the USITC’s Office of the General Counsel in 2018 and 2019, she advised the Commission in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, drafted injury opinions, represented the Commission on appeal, and provided technical guidance to USTR on notifications of WTO trade remedy legislation and regulations by other countries.
Professional Affiliations
- Law360 International Trade Editorial Advisory Board, 2024
- Customs and International Trade Bar Association (CITBA), Board of Directors, Co-Chair, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, 2024-2026
- The Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws (CSUSTL), Executive Committee
- Washington International Trade Association (WITA), Member
- Women in International Trade (WIIT), Member
- South Asian Bar Association (SABA-DC), Member
Education
- J.D., Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
- B.A., University of Chicago
Languages
- English
- Hindi
- Punjabi
- Urdu
Bar Memberships
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States Court of International Trade