Jonathan T. Fried

Jonathan Fried retired in August 2020 from his role as coordinator for international economic relations at Global Affairs Canada, and from 2017 to early 2020, he served as the personal representative of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the G20. From 2012-2017, he served as Canada’s ambassador and permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), where he played a key role in multilateral trade negotiations, including as chair of the WTO’s General Council in 2014 and chair of the Dispute Settlement Body in 2013. He was the co-chair of the G20’s Trade and Investment Working Group with China in 2015 and the “friend of the chair” for Germany in 2016. He formerly was Canada’s ambassador to Japan; executive director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean at the International Monetary Fund; senior foreign policy adviser to the prime minister; senior assistant deputy minister for the Department of Finance; and Canada's G7 and G20 finance deputy. Mr. Fried has also served as associate deputy minister; assistant deputy minister for trade, economic, and environmental policy; chief negotiator on China’s WTO accession; director general for trade policy; chief counsel for the North American Free Trade Agreement; and counsellor for congressional affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. He is one of two lead advisers to the World Economic Forum’s International Trade and Investment Platform. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Health Standards Organization and the Advisory Boards of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, the World Trade Symposium, and the Central and East European Law Institute. Mr. Fried was named in 2015 as the inaugural recipient of the Public Sector Lawyer Award by the Canadian Council on International Law to honor his service and contribution to public international law.