United States International Trade Commission

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International Trade Commission
United States International Trade Commission seal.PNG
Agency overview
Formed September 8, 1916
Preceding agency
  • U.S. Tariff Commission
Jurisdiction International Trade Issues
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Employees 356 (as of Sept. 30, 2011)[needs update]
Agency executives
Website http://www.usitc.gov/
Footnotes
[1]

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC sometimes I.T.C.[2]) is an independent, bipartisan, quasi-judicial, federal agency of the United States that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches. Furthermore, the agency determines[3] the impact of imports on U.S. industries and directs actions against unfair trade practices, such as subsidies, dumping, patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

Background and statutory authority

The USITC was established by the U.S. Congress on September 8, 1916, as the U.S. Tariff Commission.[4] In 1974, the name was changed to the U.S. International Trade Commission by section 171 of the Trade Act of 1974.[5] The agency has broad investigative powers on matters of trade. The USITC is a national resource where trade data is gathered and analyzed. This data is provided to the President and Congress as part of the information on which U.S. international trade policy is based.

Statutory authority for the USITC's responsibilities is provided by the following legislation:

Mission

USITC, Washington, DC

The U.S. International Trade Commission seeks to:

  1. Administer U.S. trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner;
  2. Provide the President, Office of the United States Trade Representative, and Congress with independent, quality analysis, information, and support on matters of tariffs and international trade and competitiveness; and
  3. Maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.

In so doing, the Commission serves the public by implementing U.S. law and contributing to the development and implementation of sound and informed U.S. trade policy.

The USITC's five operations are:

  1. Import Injury Investigations
  2. Intellectual Property-Based Import Investigations
  3. Research Program
  4. Trade Information Services
  5. Trade Policy Support

Commissioners

The USITC is headed by six commissioners nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The formal commission is signed by the President and the Secretary of State.

Commissioners are appointed by the President for nine-year terms, or are appointed to fill a vacated seat for the remainder of a term. Terms for different commissioners are staggered to end 18 months apart. Commissioners may not be reappointed at the start of a new term unless they have served less than five years, although commissioners stay on past the end of their term until their successor is appointed and confirmed. No more than three of the Commissioners may be of the same political party.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman are designated by the President for two-year terms, and successive Chairmen may not be of the same political party. Only a Commissioner with more than one year of service may be designated Chairman.[6]

The current commissioners are (in order of seniority):[7]

Hearings

Although the USITC is not a court, its administrative law judges conduct trial-type official administrative hearings. If a Section 337 Tariff Act complaint has at least three votes from its six Commissioners, an official investigative hearing will be assigned to an administrative law judge. Several dozen new USITC investigations are filed every year.[2] Judicial review is normally exercised by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.[14]

History

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Previous commissioners included:

  • Daniel R. Pearson (R–MN; sworn in August 8, 2003, for a term expiring on June 16, 2011)
  • Shara L. Aranoff (D–MD; sworn in September 6, 2005, for a term expiring on December 16, 2012)

On January 4, 1985, a USITC decision in favor of Duracell was overturned by President Ronald Reagan. The case involved the import of alkaline batteries in competition with Duracell, the American manufacturer that developed them.[15]

On August 3, 2013, President Barack Obama overturned the commission's decision in investigation No. 337-TA-794 that would have banned Apple Inc. from importing several of its older products.[16]

In January 2015 details from the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack revealed the MPAA's lobbying of the USITC to mandate US ISPs either at the internet transit level or consumer level internet service provider, implement IP address blocking pirate websites as well as linking websites.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 39 Stat. 795
  5. ↑ 19 U.S.C. 2231
  6. ↑ 19 U.S.C. § 1330
  7. ↑ USITC Commissioners Biography List from the USITC website
  8. ↑ Meredith Broadbent, USITC Commissioner Biography
  9. ↑ Dean A. Pinkert, USITC Commissioner Biography
  10. ↑ Irving A. Williamson, USITC Commissioner Biography
  11. ↑ David S. Johanson, USITC Commissioner Biography
  12. ↑ R. Scott Kieff, USITC Commissioner Biography
  13. ↑ Rhonda Schnare Schmidtlein, USITC Commissioner Biography
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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