John Denton, the new secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce – the oldest and largest part of USCIB’s global business network – paid visits to our New York headquarters and Washington, D.C. office in late June and early July. He met with USCIB staff including President and CEO Peter Robinson and Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan, along with a number of USCIB members. Discussion ranged from ICC pushing back against populist narratives on cross-border trade and investment to ICC institutional and management priorities.

Denton, an Australian lawyer and diplomat who most recently headed the law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, was elected in March to provide executive leadership to the world business organization. He is the first Australian to head the Paris-based ICC, and joins Paul Polman, CEO of Unileveler, who was elected to serve as ICC’s chairman.

Denton says he plans to visit the United States often during his tenure, capitalizing especially on ICC’s recent elevation to full UN Observer Status. In between his many duties and visits, including those to USCIB, Denton found time to pen a letter to the Financial Times providing a vigorous defense of the multilateral trading system and the WTO. He has also recently appeared on MSNBC and took part in the UN High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development in New York.