A 44-year-old Cedar Rapids native who earned four degrees from the University of Iowa is now one of nine judges on the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Kara Marie Westercamp worked at the U.S. Justice Department for over a decade before joining the White House legal team in 2025. She’s appeared over 130 times before the court she’s now joined. “The Court of International Trade is primarily one of record review and these records are voluminous…There are no jury trials, so there’s only bench trials,” Westercamp said during her confirmation hearing in March.
Westercamp represented the Commerce Department and Customs and Border Protection while she was at the Justice Department. While working in the White House this past year, she handled trade and tariff related legal matters, plus she drafted and edited President Trump’s executive orders on tariffs. She is now in a position to issue rulings on those issues. “The court hears disputes arising from the international trade laws and it also considers anti-dumping and countervailing duties that the Department of Commerce assesses as well as certain determinations by CBP, she said. “And, in addition, the court also reviews certain executive actions or proclamations issued by the president.”
President Trump nominated Westercamp for the lifetime appointment to the U.S. Court on International Trade this past February, saying she has the
“wisdom and courage…to put America first.” Late last month, Republicans in the Senate voted to confirm her to the lifetime post on the trade court, which is based in New York. Democrats opposed her nomination.
Westercamp holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of Iowa and she graduated from Iowa’s law school and earned a MBA from the business school at Iowa in 2009.
