One of the Trump administration’s top trade architects and the point-person in coordinating all the agencies and personalities involved is stepping down to return to her family in New York.
Commerce Department Chief of Staff Wendy Teramoto, a long-time aide to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, “will be sorely missed,” said a key administration official.
The 44-year-old Teramoto, one of the highest-ranking women and Asians in the administration, was a networker extraordinaire in helping to drive and define trade policy with the president, Ross, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump.
“Wendy has been instrumental in helping put policies, processes, and people in place to ensure that the department succeeds in its mission of creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for the American people. I will miss her dedication, insight, and counsel, and am deeply grateful for her service and her continued friendship,” said Ross.
Wendy Teramoto, an aide to Wilbur Ross for two decades, commuted from NYC to work at Commerce. Home on weekends, she took the 3:25 a.m. train to Washington on Monday mornings so she could tuck in her 2 little kids on Sunday nights but be at office by 8a.
— StellaBasham (@Stella_Basham1) September 1, 2018
Teramoto, the granddaughter of a U.S. Marine, has worked for Ross for more than 20 years. She was a founding partner and managing director of his WL Ross & Co. She also was on the board of Navigator Holdings, controversial for its ties to Russia.
Associates said that she plans to return to New York from where she still commutes weekly to Washington. Bloomberg reported that “she regularly takes a 3:25 a.m. regional train to Washington on Monday mornings to reach her desk near Ross’s office by 8 a.m.”
Her international trade work has been the standout of her time at Commerce which started shortly after the Inauguration. She worked on trade, tariffs and helped Ivanka Trump establish the workforce policy board.
She was at every Tuesday trade meeting held by the president’s trade team, including Ross, Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and often coordinated with top aides to those on the team, including Kushner’s aide Avrahm Berkowitz and Ivanka’s chief Julie Radford.
One official said that was key to keeping Commerce at the trade table with the White House team. “She kept Commerce in the game and understood the importance of staying close to the White House,” said an administration official.
“She carried herself with significant class and intellect,” added an associate.
And in his farewell message to his top aide, Ross said, “Wendy and her young family have made tremendous sacrifices to serve at the Department of Commerce.”
