LEADERSHIP Conversations with the Captains of Industry
Uniting the Public and Private Sectors to Achieve High-Stakes Goals
Eugene Laney is president and CEO of the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI), a trade organization representing U.S. companies engaged in global trade. He brings more than 30 years of experience in public and governmental affairs to his role. Laney has been learning about the ways business, politics, and government intersect since childhood. “When I was a toddler, my mom took me to see President Nixon as he waved farewell,” he says. “I didn’t understand why I was there, but politics has always been a big part of my life.” When President Harding founded the AAEI in 1921, it was made up of small- and mid-sized exporters that had gathered to figure out ways to grow their business. Today, the organization has the same mission it had back then: finding ways to help U.S. companies grow globally and navigate the challenges that come with growth. The AAEI’s traditional constituency includes customs brokers and trade compliance professionals who get into the nitty gritty work of classifications, HTS codes, and regulations. Today, because all areas of most companies are engaged in trade, AAEI’s constituency also includes supply chain managers or CFOs who oversee the distribution of refunds or deal with tariffs. It includes government affairs experts who lobby on Capitol Hill about trade issues and pricing departments who work with tariffs. Here, Laney talks about his approach to bringing together individuals from different organizations in the public and private sectors to reach common, but often difficult, goals. IL: AAEI has members from different companies and industries, some are competitors. How do you manage the varying goals? One of the biggest challenges is finding consistency among competitors. It helps to focus on the basic idea of facilitating trade. Once everyone can agree that we all want an efficient, effective, safe, and secure trade facilitation network, it becomes easier to identify how to reach that goal while avoiding some of the competitive issues. IL: What challenges keep you up at night? The cost of compliance is a big challenge. We’ve seen a movement away from finding a balance between trade facilitation and enforcement to greater emphasis on
Eugene Laney, President and CEO, American Association of Exporters and Importers
With a lifelong immersion in politics and business, Eugene Laney, president and CEO of the AAEI, values the art of listening, the power of public-private partnerships, and adaptability as the ultimate trade secret.
by Karen Kroll
18 Inbound Logistics • July 2026
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