Edmund Walter Sim (born 1966) is an international trade attorney and regular editorial contributor to the Singapore ''

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' and OpinionAsia on trade and diplomacy in

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

., as well as editing the ASEAN Economic Community blog A partner at Appleton Luff, he has participated in over 180 trade remedy ( antidumping, countervailing duty, and

safeguard In international trade law, a safeguard is a restraint to protect home or national industries from foreign competition. In the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member may take a safeguard action, such as restricting imports of a product tempo ...

) proceedings in both traditional jurisdictions such as the U.S., EU, Canada and Australia, as well as non-traditional jurisdictions such as Korea, China, Turkey, Indonesia, South Africa, India, Russia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Sim has provided assistance to government trade ministries in Asia. Sim has participated in dispute resolution proceedings under the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its p ...

, the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...

and the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Sim represented companies in dealing with the economic integration of the ASEAN economies through the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and other programs and teaches a course on this subject at the National University of Singapore law school. Sim was the lead lawyer for the Vietnamese seafood industry in the U.S. antidumping investigation of frozen tra and basa fillets from Vietnam, the Malaysian and Philippine steel industries in the EU antidumping and antisubsidy investigations on stainless steel fasteners from Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the Malaysian and Thai plastic industries in the U.S. and EU antidumping and antisubsidy investigations on plastic bags from Malaysia and Thailand. Sim has served as vice chairman and treasurer of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce, Singapore, a committee vice chair of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, Inter Pacific Bar Association,

American Society of International Law American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

and

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

, and on the panel of FTA advisors maintained by the Singapore government. Sim is a native of

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2020 population was 22,166. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Ruston is the prin ...

. His father is Yawsoon Sim, a professor of political science at

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African ...

, a

historically black university Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

. The elder Sim immigrated to the United States from

Kuching, Malaysia Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

. Sim received an A.B. degree ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1988 from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

honors, and a J.D. ''cum laude'' in 1991 from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

. While attending university, he worked for the Office of Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and the general counsel's office of the

U.S. Department of Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

. Sim also worked at the Washington and Singapore offices of Hunton & Williams LLP, White & Case LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and

Patton Boggs LLP Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with over 40 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C.–based Patton Boggs. It is one of the largest law firms in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sim, Edmund 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Dartmouth College alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Ruston, Louisiana Singaporean people of Chinese descent Living people 1966 births People associated with Hunton Andrews Kurth People associated with Willkie Farr & Gallagher 21st-century Singaporean lawyers