The Washington Foreign Law Society
has the pleasure to invite you to the following event:
From Factory Floor to Farm Gate: Industry on the USMCA Renegotiation
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
From 5:30 to 8:30 PM ET (including reception)
Location: Holland & Knight LLP, 800 17th Street N.W., Suite 1100, 20006.
Please register below.
If you are not yet a member of the WFLS, please join here.
The United States Mexico Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), the North American free-trade agreement, is scheduled for a formal review by July 2026. It is expected to function as a major renegotiation, with the U.S. seeking to update terms to address non-compliance and new trade realities. Come hear from members of the agriculture, automotive, and steel industries on what they’ll be looking out for as these negotiations progress.
Panelists:
Alejandra Castillo, President & CEO at NAEGA
Benjamin Caryl, Associate General Counsel - International Trade and Customs Compliance
Sarah Stewart, CEO and Executive Director at Silverado Policy Accelerator
Moderator: Molly O’Casey, Holland & Knight LLP/ Chair of Programs, WFLS
Introduction by: Alexandra Bochnakova, President of the Washington Foreign Law Society
Alejandra Castillo. Alejandra Castillo is the President & CEO of the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA). A senior executive with over 15 years’ experience in global trade with expertise in trade execution, stakeholder management and trade policy. Alejandra worked at the U.S. Grains Council in D.C., Singapore, and India. Most recently, she opened the Council’s newest office in India, where she served as the Regional Director for South Asia.
In that capacity, Alejandra set up the strategy to evaluate and implement the Council’s market development programs in the region which included India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.Alejandra also serves as volunteer President of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC). Since 2019, Alejandra has supported the IGTC Working Group on Electronic Trading Documentation. In that role, she served as one of the co-chairs for the Industry Advisory Group (IAG) and the IAG representative for the CPM Focus Group on Sustainable Funding for the IPPC ePhyto Solution Project.
Prior to the Council, Alejandra worked in trade execution with Cargill focused on trade risk management as well as vessel and container logistics for cotton, grains and oilseeds. She also gained experience as an international freight forwarder prior to entering trade execution. Before joining Cargill, she worked as a project manager for the Mayo Clinic and an associate director of admissions for St. Catherine University.
Alejandra is a native of Nicaragua and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in strategic management and organizational leadership, both from St. Catherine University, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Benjamin Caryl. Ben is the Associate General Counsel for International Trade and Customs Compliance at United States Steel Corporation, where he leads and manages the company’s international trade law and policy initiatives, including antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD), Section 232 national security actions, customs and trade enforcement, and related administrative proceedings, litigation, negotiations, policy advocacy and internal advice and briefing.
Ben currently serves as Chair of U. S. Steel’s Trade Committee, President of the Council on American Steel Trade (CAST), and as Vice Chair on the International Trade Advisory Committee on Steel that advises USTR and the Commerce Department on trade policy and negotiation issues. Prior to joining U. S. Steel, Ben practiced at two DC trade firms focusing on trade remedies and trade policy, representing a broad range of industries, including U.S. and foreign steel producers and end-users. Ben also previously served as counsel to U.S. International Trade Commissioner Charlotte Lane and served in the Commerce Department’s Import Administration’s Non-Market Economy Unit.
Ben holds a BA and JD from Tulane University and
an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center.
Sarah V. Stewart. Sarah V. Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Silverado Policy Accelerator. Ms. Stewart has over two decades of experience as an international trade lawyer, trade policy expert, and trade negotiator. In her current role, Ms. Stewart works to implement Silverado's mission in areas including geopolitics, national security, international trade, critical supply chains, and energy security. Ms. Stewart's views are featured in national publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Politico, and she is a regular speaker at domestic and international conferences.
Immediately prior to joining Silverado, Ms. Stewart led the public policy efforts at Amazon on U.S. trade policy and export controls matters. From 2013 to 2018, Ms. Stewart worked for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, with her most recent position being the Deputy Assistant USTR for Environment and Natural Resources. During her time at USTR, Ms. Stewart led the environment chapter negotiations for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union. Prior to joining USTR, Ms. Stewart served in different legal and policy roles at a major international non-profit organization, including spearheading a first-ever international legal group. Ms. Stewart began her career at the Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, where she worked for over five years on behalf of U.S. manufacturing companies and workers as an international trade attorney with a focus on the steel sector.
Ms. Stewart serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington International Trade Foundation (WITF) and for GirlSecurity, and is a fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School. Ms. Stewart was named one of Washingtonian's Tech Titans for 2025. Her spare time is spent on the field coaching her daughter's middle school lacrosse team.
Molly O'Casey is a trade attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office. Molly focuses her practice on a broad range of transactional, litigation and regulatory compliance matters in the areas of U.S. customs laws, export controls, economic sanctions and embargoes, national security reviews and maritime.
Molly advises clients on a wide variety of import matters before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with a particular focus on tariff mitigation. These matters further include seizures, classification, valuation and country of origin, as well as preferential duty treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and free trade agreements (FTAs). In addition, Molly counsels clients on U.S. export controls laws, such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), especially in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She has extensive experience with U.S. trade embargoes and economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of State.
Molly also counsels clients with government contracts and security clearances, especially in the defense space. This includes hosting Holland & Knight's podcast on industrial security, "Are We All Clear? Facilitating Security Clearances." She is actively involved in Holland & Knight's pro bono activities, through which she provides counseling to individuals on immigration matters.
Prior to Holland & Knight, Molly clerked at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Her previous experience also includes work at a boutique law firm and an international consulting firm, with an emphasis on customs issues and trade remedies. During law school, Molly was an associate editor for the Cornell International Law Journal.
Alexandra Bochnakova. Alexandra is the President of the Washington Foreign Law Society. She is an international and corporate lawyer licensed in France and in the United States. Alexandra is currently working as Corporate Governance Director at Finca Impact Finance, Washington DC, a microfinance institution with over 10 subsidiaries in emerging nations.
Previously, she worked as Corporate Governance Director at Pierre Fabre Group, France, a pharmaceutical group with over one hundred subsidiaries in France and worldwide.
Prior to that, she was the founding partner of SELAS Bochnakova, a boutique law firm focused on international business transactions and cross-border matters. In parallel, she was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toulouse 1 Capitole and ESICAD Business School in Toulouse, France.
She holds an LL.M in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University (USA), a PhD in Comparative Law and a Master in Business Law from the Université de Toulouse 1, Capitole (France). She also has a Certificate in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from Georgetown University Law Center.