Mitchell Silk

Mitchell (Moyshe) Allen Silk is an American lawyer, author, and former government official who served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets under President Donald Trump. He is recognized as an expert in Chinese law and finance.^[1][2][3][4] From October 2017 to July 2019, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

Silk is the first Hasidic Jew to hold a senior position with a U.S. administration.^[2][3]

Silk received a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law, Certificate in Advanced Studies in Law from Beijing University, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.^[5] He also studied at National Taiwan Normal University and Middlebury College.^[5]

Silk began his career as an associate at Hughes Hubbard & Reed (1987-1990), then at Graham & James (from 1990-1992). He worked as a senior associate at Chadbourne & Parke from 1992-1996. Silk later joined Allen & Overy, where he became partner and Head of the China Practice. He spent a decade in their Hong Kong office.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

In October 2017, Silk was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.^[2][5][10] He was the head of the Office of Investment, Energy and Infrastructure.^[11]

In July 2019, he became the acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets. On September 19, 2019, President Trump formally nominated Silk to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets.^[12] A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs was held on November 20, 2019.^[13] On April 21, 2020, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote.^[14][15][16] Silk became the first Hasidic Jew to be confirmed to a senior U.S. administration position.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Silk has published a book on Chinese environmental protection law titled: China's marine environmental protection law: The dragon creeping in murky waters,^[21] and several other books, Taiwan Trade and Investment Law,^[22] Environmental Law and Policy in the People's Republic of China.^[23] In 2021, Silk co-authored with Singaporean banker Seth Tan Dancing with Giants: A Lawyer and Banker Share Their Passion for Infrastructure Finance.^[24] The book chronicles their experiences over the last several decades working on some of the largest cross-border infrastructure projects on almost every continent and at the highest levels of government and corporate organizations.

In addition to his several books on finance, Silk published a three volume, 2,000 page translation of the classic Kedushas Levi^[25] written by Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Derbarimdiger of Berditchev, one of the most popular figures in the Chassidic movement. This is the first ever complete publication of the complete translation of this work. He was a leader for and of the people, and this work delivers keen and timeless insights into human life, behavior, and psychology, and was as concerned with life in the real world as he was in providing profound meditations on Scripture. This publication launched Silk's ongoing project Chassidic Classics,^[26] an effort to render the canon classic Chassidic texts in accessible and readable English translation.

Silk has written numerous articles addressing topics such as Chinese business expansion,^[27] Taiwan's investment law,^[28] China's state secrets law,^[29] post-Mao environmental protection,^[30] and infrastructure policy in the U.S.^[31]

Silk and his wife, Yocheved, reside in Borough Park, Brooklyn.^[3]

When sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Silk used an ancient Tikkun kor'im originally owned by Rebbe Mordechai of Nadvorna, from his grandfather's ancestral hometown.

He is an expert in Chinese law and finance, speaks five languages Cantonese Chinese, English, Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew, and Yiddish.^[5][8]

• U.S. Department of the Treasury biography Archived August 15, 2020, at the Wayback Machine