The Future of the North American Free Trade Agreement

Carla Anderson Hills

This a joint policy paper by the Scowcroft and Mosbacher Institutes based on a presentation by Carla A. Hills delivered during a discussion on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Carla Anderson Hills

Ambassador Carla A. Hills served as United States Trade Representative from 1989 to 1993. As a member of President George H.W. Bush’s Cabinet, Carla was the President’s principal advisor on international trade policy. She was also the nation’s chief trade negotiator, representing American interests in multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations throughout the world. Carla negotiated and concluded the North American Free Trade Agreement and also led the US negotiations on the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization. During her tenure, the United States entered into a large number of trade and investment agreements with countries around the world.

Earlier, Ambassador Hills served as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (the third woman to hold a Cabinet position). She also served as the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Before entering government, Amb. Hills co-founded and was partner in what is now the Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP law firm. She also served as an adjunct professor at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School teaching antitrust law, and co-authored the Antitrust Adviser, which was published by McGraw-Hill. Ambassador Hills’ prior expertise in antitrust and federal civil matters informs her understanding of business.

Over the years, she has served on a number of corporate boards, including AIG, American Airlines, AT&T, Chevron, Corning Glass Works, Gilead Sciences, IBM, Time Warner, Trust Company of the West, and United Airlines, and currently is on the international advisory board of J.P. Morgan Chase. She also serves in leadership positions with not-for-profit organizations, including Chair of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; Co-Chair of the Inter-American Dialogue, and of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Honorary Director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics; and Executive Committee member of the Trilateral Commission. She is Co-Chair Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ambassador Hills graduated from Stanford University, attended Oxford University’s St. Hilda’s College, and obtained her law degree from the Yale Law School. She holds honorary degrees from a number of colleges and universities. In 2000, she was awarded the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor given by the Mexican government to a non-citizen.

She resides in Washington, DC.