Sarah Bianchi, deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia and Africa for more than two years, left the agency Jan. 29.

Rick Sofield, former partner at Vinson & Elkins, joined Debevoise & Plimpton as co-head of the national security practice based in Washington, D.C., the firm announced. Sofield will center his practice on security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and other cross-border transactions and investments. Sofield previously was director of the Foreign Investment Review Staff for DOJ's National Security Division.

Rimon Law added two partners and one associate to its international trade practice, the firm said. The new partners are James Min, former global chair of international trade law for the DHL Group and Mi-Yong Kim, former partner at LimNexus. The firm also added Chelsea Ellis, former LimNexus associate, as an associate. Rimon also announced the launch of its export controls and economic sanctions practice. Ellis, Kim and Min join partner Daanish Hamid in that practice. Sandra Bell, former deputy assistant commissioner at CBP's Office of International Trade, also recently joined the firm (see 2401120064).

Chloe Cina, former head of global sanctions advisory at Deutsche Bank, joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in the national security group based in London, the firm announced. Cina joined Deutsche Bank in 2018 as director of the global sanctions and embargoes team prior to heading up the global sanctions advisory office.

Michael Vaccaro is the new leader of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, DDTC announced this week. Vaccaro, whose formal title is deputy assistant secretary for defense trade, started in the new role Jan. 16. He was most recently the principal deputy assistant secretary for industrial base policy at the Defense Department, and he also previously worked at the Bureau of Industry and Security, where he oversaw defense trade programs. Vaccaro is the first permanent head of DDTC since Mike Miller left the agency in 2022 to become the deputy director of DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (see 2212120004).

Elizabeth Cannon, former global trade counsel with Microsoft, has joined the Bureau of Industry and Security as the executive director of the agency’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, a BIS spokesperson said. That office is responsible for implementing certain prohibitions on information and communications technology and services transactions, restrictions on foreign access to certain U.S. sensitive data, and more. Cannon’s first day was Jan. 22.

Andrew Astuno, a former Treasury Department official who worked on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., has joined Clifford Chance as a CFIUS lawyer, he announced this week on LinkedIn. Astuno was a policy adviser with Treasury’s Office of Investment Security before leaving in early 2022 to join Stroock & Stroock.

McLarty Associates co-founder Nelson Cunningham has been nominated to replace Jayme White as deputy U.S. trade representative. White was responsible for negotiations in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Middle East, and also had some labor and environmental issues in his portfolio.

Cordell Hull, former acting undersecretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security, joined Amazon Web Services this month as head of trade and economic security policy, according to his LinkedIn announcement. Hull led BIS during the last year of the Trump administration (see 2011190018) before joining WestExec Advisors as a geopolitical risk consultant.

Greenberg Traurig launched an international trade practice in its Mexico City office, the firm announced Jan. 8. The firm said Guillermo Sanchez Chao will serve as the practice area's first shareholder after joining from Chevez Ruiz Zamarripa. Sanchez Chao's practice will center on "international trade, customs, supply chain and administrative litigation," the firm said.