Barry Schumacher

Barry Schumacher, senior vice president and director of international policy, APCO Worldwide, specializes in international trade and commercial issues and foreign policy. He has helped to shape major trade, investment and foreign assistance legislation since the early 1980s, representing private companies, trade associations and governments.

Legislation he has worked on includes the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Freedom Support Act of 1990, and more recently, the Uruguay Round implementing legislation. Mr. Schumacher has also helped shape U.S. procurement policy, especially in areas relating to the environment. In addition to his legislative specialties, he has assisted numerous national governments present themselves in the U.S. in order to attract new investment or to communicate key issues to policy makers and the media.

Prior to joining APCO in 1987, Mr. Schumacher served as an assistant specializing in trade issues for Florida Governor Bob Graham. Mr. Schumacher is a former director of intergovernmental relations for Puerto Rico’s Federal Affairs Administration and was actively involved in the formation of the Caribbean Basin Initiative.

Mr. Schumacher has written extensively on such topics as foreign investment in the U.S., U.S. trade policy and grassroots organizing. He helped write the 1991 edition of the reference work, Trade Warriors, a profile of congressional and executive branch officials active on international trade issues. Mr. Schumacher’s work has been published in the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, he has written a regular column for a business magazine on U.S. policy and Latin America.

Mr. Schumacher holds his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a fluent Spanish speaker.