Joe has 44 years of extensive experience in US trade policy, including 21 years at the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) in the Executive Office of the President. He has negotiated trade issues and/or agreements with the European Union, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as with many other developed and developing countries, some of which were intended to expand trade, others to restrict it. He also led the negotiation of a set of rules governing trade in the World Trade Organization.

Joe has worked at the US Department of Labor, served as Senior VP International at the Recording Industry Association of America, and consulted on US-China trade with the US Chamber of Commerce. Joe continued to serve for many years as a trade policy advisor to a US government agency.