Join the Business Development Exchange for a discussion with John Leonard, the Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Trade at CBP.

Mr. John P. Leonard is the Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner (DEAC) of Office of Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Mr. Leonard oversees a diverse portfolio of trade enforcement, security, and facilitation to enable legitimate trade, contribute to American economic prosperity, and protect against risks to public health and safety. His work ranges from enforcing over 500 U.S. trade laws, to overseeing 14 trade agreements, to directing CBP’s seven Priority Trade Issues in collaboration with 49 partner government agencies.

Mr. Leonard previously served as the Executive Director for Trade Policy and Programs, Office of Trade until March 2021, leading CBP’s strategic efforts on Intellectual Property Rights, textiles, import safety, and antidumping and countervailing duties, while also responsible for policy guidance on trade agreements, interagency collaboration and public-private partnerships. Mr. Leonard has implemented two revolutionary e-Commerce pilots that allow for instantaneous data collection on low-value shipments, established the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Center and modernized U.S. customs brokers policy.

Mr. Leonard has over 30 years of experience at CBP and the former U.S. Customs Service, first beginning his career as an Import Specialist in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1989. Since then, he has worked in various leadership positions at CBP, from 2013 to 2017 as CBP Attaché to Singapore, and prior to this as the Area Port Director of San Francisco. As Area Port Director, he oversaw passenger operations at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and cargo operations at the Oakland Seaport.

Mr. Leonard holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University. He is a graduate of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellows program and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®).