The Responsibilities of the U.S. International Trade Commission
Dennis AuBuchon
April 04, 2010
This commission is an independent, quasi judicial Federal agency with broad investigative responsibilities on matters of trade. The mission is to:
Administer U.S. Trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner. Provide the President, USTR, and Congress with independent analysis, information, and
Support on matters of tariffs, international trade, and U.S. Competitiveness and
Maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Within this commission there are five major operations that serve its external customers. The purpose of these operations will be discussed individually. The first to be discussed is the import injury investigations. Both this commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce have rolls in these investigations. The main purpose is to conduct antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and five year reviews. Basically this commission and the Department of Commerce can be petitioned by U.S. industries for relief from imports that are sold in the United States at less than fair market value. Dumping and certain subsidizing are considered unfair trade practices.
Another operation involves intellectual property infringement and other unfair acts. This area involves claims regarding intellectual property rights including allegations of patent infringement and trademark infringement by imported goods. Both utility and design patents may be asserted in these investigations. Other claims involve infringement of registered copyrights, misappropriation of trade secrets or trade dress and false advertising. Antitrust claims regarding imported goods may also be asserted.
The industry and economic analysis operation of this commission primarily addresses two questions. The first is: How competitive are U.S. industries compared to foreign industries? The second question is: How will changing factors in international trade affect U.S. companies in the future? These are important questions the answers of which impact how well U.S. companies currently do in a world market and what the foreseeable future will affect their continued success.
The questions cited above are broad as there is a wide variety of industries that compete in foreign markets. Many factors affect the successful competition of U.S. industries in foreign markets. Each business type has their own set of circumstances in doing business either in their own country or the world market. To address these differences this commission has five main divisions which help to address these differences. The divisions are noted below:
Agriculture and Fisheries
Advanced Technology and Machinery
Chemicals and Textiles
Natural Resources and Metals
Services
As you can see the divisions identified above are generic in nature but the importance of each of them in this commission cannot be understated. The issues associated with each of these divisions have a direct bearing on the success of the various industries. Issues such as tariffs, fiscal incentives, production technologies, cost structures and business strategies are important topics for any business.
Trade policy support is another important operation of this commission. Supporting and providing guidance to trade policymakers in the executive branch and Congress is important. Providing technical expertise and objective information on international trade issues is a constant activity. There are always going to be issues of trade policy and the impact of decisions of other countries impact U.S. companies. The commission offers technical advice through research, informal briefings and meetings in addition to testimony at congressional hearings when it is determined they are necessary. Importing and exporting is a natural occurrence for every country. The balance of trade is an important issue and this commission helps to address situations affecting the successful operation and competition in foreign markets.
Today there are many goods being imported into the United States and as such it is important that the various commodities are properly categorized in what is called a tariff schedule. The Tariff and Trade Information Services operation of this commission performs this function. Each type of product is meant to be classified in only one category. There are several publications initiated through this commission. The publications are categorized by type and are listed below:
Agriculture
Service industries
Textile- Apparel industries
Other industries
Western Hemisphere
Africa
Asia
Trade Preference Programs
Free trade agreements
Industry and trade summaries
Import restraints
Trade shifts
Year in trade
Small and medium enterprises
To accomplish their responsibilities this commission is organized into the following offices
Office of the Administrative Law Judges
Operations Office of the Director
Office of the General Counsel
Office of External Relations
Chief Information Officer
Administration Office of the Director
Office of Inspector General
Office of Information Technology Services
Office of Human Resources
Office of Facilities Management
Office of Finance
Office of Economics
Office of Investigations
Office of Industries
Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements
Office of Unfair Import Investigations
This commission is structured like many other federal agencies with a responsibility that impacts businesses involved in world trade. The Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register remain the official source for the text of the rules for this commission. This commission has a log of all the publications that have been created and to date there are over 4,100 with a wide range of topics. Seven have been created in 2010. The scope, responsibility and actions of this agency can and does impact the success of American businesses worldwide.
While this commission is a central focal point for international trade there have been some successes at a more local level such as states or cities. The key to this is to create a bond between cities or states that can benefit both parties. This not only opens more opportunities for new customers it also expands the choices for consumers in both locations. It must be remembered that this kind of arrangement takes work and it is important to have the right individuals creating this kind of partnership.
These kinds of efforts may not always come to fruition but it is important that states and cities make the effort to expand opportunities for businesses in their state and cities. Also it is important to state that the restrictions that are mentioned in preceding paragraphs will in most cases not become a problem as it would hurt the benefits both receive from their partnership. If one party tries to take advantage of the other through tactics mentioned before the partnership will have problems and may eventually be dissolved. Cities and states that make the effort to create such agreements are better for them and so are their citizens.
Administer U.S. Trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner. Provide the President, USTR, and Congress with independent analysis, information, and
Support on matters of tariffs, international trade, and U.S. Competitiveness and
Maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Within this commission there are five major operations that serve its external customers. The purpose of these operations will be discussed individually. The first to be discussed is the import injury investigations. Both this commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce have rolls in these investigations. The main purpose is to conduct antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and five year reviews. Basically this commission and the Department of Commerce can be petitioned by U.S. industries for relief from imports that are sold in the United States at less than fair market value. Dumping and certain subsidizing are considered unfair trade practices.
Another operation involves intellectual property infringement and other unfair acts. This area involves claims regarding intellectual property rights including allegations of patent infringement and trademark infringement by imported goods. Both utility and design patents may be asserted in these investigations. Other claims involve infringement of registered copyrights, misappropriation of trade secrets or trade dress and false advertising. Antitrust claims regarding imported goods may also be asserted.
The industry and economic analysis operation of this commission primarily addresses two questions. The first is: How competitive are U.S. industries compared to foreign industries? The second question is: How will changing factors in international trade affect U.S. companies in the future? These are important questions the answers of which impact how well U.S. companies currently do in a world market and what the foreseeable future will affect their continued success.
The questions cited above are broad as there is a wide variety of industries that compete in foreign markets. Many factors affect the successful competition of U.S. industries in foreign markets. Each business type has their own set of circumstances in doing business either in their own country or the world market. To address these differences this commission has five main divisions which help to address these differences. The divisions are noted below:
Agriculture and Fisheries
Advanced Technology and Machinery
Chemicals and Textiles
Natural Resources and Metals
Services
As you can see the divisions identified above are generic in nature but the importance of each of them in this commission cannot be understated. The issues associated with each of these divisions have a direct bearing on the success of the various industries. Issues such as tariffs, fiscal incentives, production technologies, cost structures and business strategies are important topics for any business.
Trade policy support is another important operation of this commission. Supporting and providing guidance to trade policymakers in the executive branch and Congress is important. Providing technical expertise and objective information on international trade issues is a constant activity. There are always going to be issues of trade policy and the impact of decisions of other countries impact U.S. companies. The commission offers technical advice through research, informal briefings and meetings in addition to testimony at congressional hearings when it is determined they are necessary. Importing and exporting is a natural occurrence for every country. The balance of trade is an important issue and this commission helps to address situations affecting the successful operation and competition in foreign markets.
Today there are many goods being imported into the United States and as such it is important that the various commodities are properly categorized in what is called a tariff schedule. The Tariff and Trade Information Services operation of this commission performs this function. Each type of product is meant to be classified in only one category. There are several publications initiated through this commission. The publications are categorized by type and are listed below:
Agriculture
Service industries
Textile- Apparel industries
Other industries
Western Hemisphere
Africa
Asia
Trade Preference Programs
Free trade agreements
Industry and trade summaries
Import restraints
Trade shifts
Year in trade
Small and medium enterprises
To accomplish their responsibilities this commission is organized into the following offices
Office of the Administrative Law Judges
Operations Office of the Director
Office of the General Counsel
Office of External Relations
Chief Information Officer
Administration Office of the Director
Office of Inspector General
Office of Information Technology Services
Office of Human Resources
Office of Facilities Management
Office of Finance
Office of Economics
Office of Investigations
Office of Industries
Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements
Office of Unfair Import Investigations
This commission is structured like many other federal agencies with a responsibility that impacts businesses involved in world trade. The Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register remain the official source for the text of the rules for this commission. This commission has a log of all the publications that have been created and to date there are over 4,100 with a wide range of topics. Seven have been created in 2010. The scope, responsibility and actions of this agency can and does impact the success of American businesses worldwide.
While this commission is a central focal point for international trade there have been some successes at a more local level such as states or cities. The key to this is to create a bond between cities or states that can benefit both parties. This not only opens more opportunities for new customers it also expands the choices for consumers in both locations. It must be remembered that this kind of arrangement takes work and it is important to have the right individuals creating this kind of partnership.
These kinds of efforts may not always come to fruition but it is important that states and cities make the effort to expand opportunities for businesses in their state and cities. Also it is important to state that the restrictions that are mentioned in preceding paragraphs will in most cases not become a problem as it would hurt the benefits both receive from their partnership. If one party tries to take advantage of the other through tactics mentioned before the partnership will have problems and may eventually be dissolved. Cities and states that make the effort to create such agreements are better for them and so are their citizens.
Print
Email
