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Michael Kantor (born August 7, 1939) is an American attorney who served as the United States Trade Representative from 1993 to 1996 and United States Secretary of Commerce in 1996 and 1997.
During the 1992 campaign, Kantor served as head of pre-transition planning for the Clinton administration, and then formally led transition planning once their election was certified.
An advocate of free trade, Kantor, as Trade Representative, led U.S. negotiations that created the World Trade Organization (WTO), such as the Uruguay Round, and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Kantor also engaged in organizing the Miami Summit of the Americas and three meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, including the U.S.-hosted First Leaders' Meeting. With the European Commission of the newly formed European Union, he expanded the trans-Atlantic market.
Kantor became United States Secretary of Commerce on April 12, 1996, succeeding Ron Brown, who had been killed in the 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash.
Kantor practices law in the Los Angeles office of Mayer Brown, an international law firm based in Chicago. He is the board of directors co-chair of Vision to Learn and the University of Southern California Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy; a board officer of Drug Strategies; a leadership council member of the Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law; a steering committee member of Japan House; and a board member of Lexmark and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
He formerly served on the board of directors of CBRE Group, board of visitors for Georgetown Law, and international advisory board for FleishmanHillard. Kantor was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross by the government of Brazil in 2001.
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