International Trade Administration

For a list of other uses, see ITA (disambiguation).

International Trade Administration

Agency overview
Headquarters	Herbert C. Hoover Building 1401 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees	1,966 (2013) [1]
Annual budget	$497 million (2015) [1]
Agency executive	William Kimmitt, Under Secretary for International Trade
Parent agency	Department of Commerce
Child agency	United States Commercial Service
Website	trade.gov

The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services.

Duties

The ITA's stated goals are to

1. Provide practical information to help Americans select markets and products.
2. Ensure that Americans have access to international markets as required by the U.S. trade agreements.
3. Safeguard Americans from unfair competition from dumped and subsidized imports.

Organization

ITA consists of three sub-units. These are: Industry and Analysis (I&A), Global Markets (GM), and Enforcement and Compliance (E&C).

• Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
  • Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
  • Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. Commercial Service
    • Office of Strategic Planning
    • Deputy Director General of the U.S. Commercial Service
      • Office of Foreign Service and Human Capital
      • Office of Budget
      • Business Information Technology Office
      • Office of Administrative Services
    • Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Markets
      • Global Knowledge Center
      • SelectUSA
    • Office of Domestic Operations
    • Office of China
    • Office of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
    • Office of Asia
    • Office of the Western Hemisphere
    • Advocacy Center
  • Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis
    • Office of Manufacturing
      • Office of Transportation and Machinery
      • Office of Energy and Environment
      • Office of Health & Information Technology
    • Office of Services
      • Office of Finance & Insurance Industries
      • Office of Digital Services Industries
      • Office of Supply Chain, Professional, & Business Services
    • Office of Trade Policy and Analysis
      • Office of Trade & Economic Analysis
      • Office of Trade Negotiations & Analysis
      • Office of Standards & Investment Policy
      • Office of Intellectual Property Rights
    • Office of Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Materials
      • Office of Consumer Goods
      • Office of Textiles & Apparel
      • Office of Materials Industries
    • National Travel and Tourism Office
      • Office of Travel and Tourism Industries
    • Office of Advisory Committees and Industry Outreach
    • Office of Trade Programs and Strategic Partnerships
    • Office of Planning, Coordination, and Management
    • Trade Agreement Secretariat
  • Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance
    • Office of Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties Operations
    • Office of Policy and Negotiations

The U.S. Commercial Service, through its Strategic Corporate Partnership program, ^[2] has Public Private Partnership agreements with 17 private organizations, including several banks, legal and regulatory organizations, transportation and shipping organizations, event organizers, trade risk service companies and the publisher of Commercial News USA, the official export promotion magazine of the U.S. Department of Commerce, The ecommerce partner is the Federation of International Trade Associations under which the USCS contributes market research and other reports on GlobalTrade.net. ^[3]

Leadership

United States Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
Incumbent William Kimmitt since August 8, 2025 [4]
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Formation	January 1, 1989
Website	Official website

The ITA was created on January 2, 1980, and is headed by the under secretary of commerce for international trade (USC(IT)), the principal adviser to the secretary of commerce on American imports and exports. The under secretary is the head of the International Trade Administration within the Commerce Department.

The under secretary is appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate. Gilbert B. Kaplan was nominated by President Trump for the position of Under Secretary for International Trade on April 11, 2017, and confirmed by the Senate on March 13, 2018. Gilbert Kaplan left the position in late 2019. President Biden appointed Marisa Lago as undersecretary in 2021.

Overview

The under secretary of commerce for international trade is the principal officer of the United States Department of Commerce charged with promoting American exports and assisting general international trade. As the Administrator of the International Trade Administration, ^[5] the under secretary serves as a member of the Tourism Policy Council ^[6] and the National Intellectual Property Council. ^[7] The under secretary participates in the development of United States trade policy, identifies and resolves market access and compliance issues, administers American trade laws, and undertakes a range of trade promotion and trade advocacy efforts.

With the rank of under secretary, the USC(IT) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule. Since January 2014, the annual rate of pay for Level III appointees is $167,000. ^[8]

Reporting officials

Officials reporting to the USC(IT) include:

• Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
• Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service
• Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance
• Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis

List of under secretaries

Main article: Executive Office of the President of the United States

Name	Assumed office	Left office	Appointed by
Robert E. Herzstein	1980	1981	Jimmy Carter
Lionel H. Olmer	1981	1985	Ronald Reagan
S. Bruce Smart	1985	1987
W. Allen Moore	1987	1989
J. Michael Farren	June 1989	May 1992	George H. W. Bush
Timothy Hauser (Acting)	May 1992	1993
Jeffrey Garten	1993	1995	Bill Clinton
David Rothkopf (Acting)	1995	1996
Timothy Hauser (Acting)	1996	1996
Stuart E. Eizenstat	April 1996	June 6, 1997
David L. Aaron	1997	2000
Robert LaRussa	2000	2001
Timothy Hauser (Acting)	2001	2001	George W. Bush
Grant D. Aldonas	2001	2005
Rhonda Keenum (Acting)	2025	2005
Timothy Hauser (Acting)	2005	2005
Peter Lichtenbaum (Acting)	2005	2005
Frank Lavin	2005	2007
Michelle O'Neill (Acting)	2007	December 19, 2007
Christopher A. Padilla	December 19, 2007	January 20, 2009
Frank Sanchez	March 29, 2010	November 6, 2013	Barack Obama
Kenneth E. Hyatt (Acting)	November 6, 2013	June 4, 2014
Stefan M. Selig	June 4, 2014	June 2016
Kenneth E. Hyatt (Acting)	June 2016	March 20, 2018
Gilbert B. Kaplan	March 20, 2018	September 19, 2019	Donald Trump
Joseph C. Semsar (Acting)	October 2019	January 20, 2021
Diane Farrell (Acting)	January 20, 2021	December 28, 2021	Joe Biden
Marisa Lago	December 28, 2021	January 20, 2025
Trevor Kellogg (Acting)	January 20, 2025	August 8, 2025	Donald Trump
William Kimmitt	August 8, 2025	Incumbent

See also

• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
• Bureau of Industry and Security
• Doha Round
• Generalized System of Preferences
• Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• International Trade Commission
• Office of the United States Trade Representative
• United States Commercial Service
• United States Trade Representative
• World Trade Organization

References

1. ITA 2015 Budget Estimates Archived August 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2014-08-01.
2. Our Partners Archived 2010-12-06 at the Wayback Machine . Export.gov. Retrieved on 2013-08-12.
3. partners – International trade content and service providers Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine . Globaltrade.net. Retrieved on 2013-08-12.
4. https://www.trade.gov/press-release/william-kimmitt-sworn-under-secretary-commerce-international-trade
5. "Biography of Stefan Selig". Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
6. "US CODE: Title 22,2124. Tourism Policy Council" . Retrieved September 22, 2007.
7. "US CODE: Title 15,1128. National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council" . Retrieved September 22, 2007.
8. "Office of Personnel Management Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.

External links

• International Trade Administration website Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
• International Trade Administration in the Federal Register
• Records of the Office of Export Supply 1949–1959
• Records of the Export Control Investigations Staff 1948–1962