This article needs to be updated.(May 2024) |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | September 8, 1916 |
Preceding agency |
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Jurisdiction | International Trade Issues |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Employees | 402 (civilian career employees as of September 30, 2017) [1] |
Agency executive |
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Website | www |
Footnotes | |
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C. [3] ) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It is an independent, bipartisan entity that analyzes trade issues such as tariffs and competitiveness and publishes reports. As a quasi-judicial entity, the USITC investigates the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against unfair trade practices, such as subsidies; dumping; and intellectual property infringement, including copyright infringement. [4]
The USITC was established by the U.S. Congress on September 8, 1916, as the U.S. Tariff Commission. [5] In 1974, the name was changed to the U.S. International Trade Commission by section 171 of the Trade Act of 1974. [6] Statutory authority for the USITC's responsibilities is provided by the following legislation:
The U.S. International Trade Commission seeks to:
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:
The president nominates and the U.S. Senate confirms the six commissioners who make up the USITC. The president and the secretary of state sign the formal commission.
Commissioners' terms are nine years, or, when filling a vacated seat, for the remainder of a term. Their terms 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's term is for two years, 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. [7]
The current commissioners as of September 24, 2024: [8]
Position | Name | State | Entered office | Term expires | Party | Originally appointed by |
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Chair | Amy A. Karpel | Washington | August 26, 2019 | June 16, 2023 | Democratic | Donald Trump |
Commissioner | David S. Johanson | Texas | December 8, 2011 | December 16, 2018 | Republican | Barack Obama |
Commissioner | Rhonda K. Schmidtlein | Missouri | April 28, 2014 | December 16, 2021 | Democratic | Barack Obama |
Commissioner | Jason Kearns | Colorado | April 2, 2018 | December 16, 2024 | Democratic | Donald Trump |
Commissioner | Vacant | June 16, 2026 | ||||
Commissioner | Vacant | June 16, 2029 |
President Biden has nominated the following to fill seats on the commission. They await Senate confirmation. [9]
Position | Name | State | Party | Term expiration | Replacing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commissioner | William Patrick J. Kimmitt | Virginia | Republican | June 16, 2029 | F. Scott Kieff |
Commissioner | James Bernard Coughlan | Illinois | Democratic | December 16, 2030 | Rhonda K. Schmidtlein |
Commissioner | Halie L. Craig | Pennsylvania | Republican | June 16, 2026 | Randolph J. Stayin |
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. [3] Judicial review is normally exercised by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. [10] After the parties have had the opportunity to conduct fact and expert discovery to develop their respective legal positions, the ALJ (administrative law judge) holds a formal, evidentiary hearing, or trial. There is no jury. About three months after considering the arguments of the parties, the ALJ renders an initial determination (ID). The full ITC reviews and may adopt, modify or reverse the ALJ's initial determination. The ITC's final determination is usually issued about four months after the ALJ's ID. [11] The USITC can impose exclusion orders that keep violating products from entering the United States. [12] Exclusion orders are those in which disallow products from entering the United States for sale. [13] While the Administrative Law Judges make determinations, the final decision of relief (i.e. exclusion from import) is made by the President of the United States. [14] Should a party disagree with the decision, appeals may be made to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. [12]
As part of a large group of legislation passed during the Progressive Era in the early 1900s, U.S. Congress established the United States Tariff Commission in 1916, which had a purpose to apply scientific principles to the study of tariffs and to assist in recommending appropriate tariff levels. [15] Frank Taussig, then an Economics professor at Harvard University, was named the U.S. Tariff Commission's very first chairman. [15] The first offices of the U.S. Tariff Commission were located at 1322 New York Avenue, Washington D.C. [15] Also in 1921, the U.S. Tariff Commission moved to the Old Post Office Building at 7th and E Street NW. [15]
Effective January 1, 1975, the U.S. Tariff Commission was renamed the U.S. International Trade Commission. [15] The USITC had a number of new responsibilities under the Trade Act of 1974, and commission procedures under Section 337 of Tariff Act of 1930 were greatly changed, and Section 337 proceedings brought before Administrative Law Judges had to now conform with the Administrative Procedure Act. [15] Section 337 decisions were also made final, instead of advisory (although subject to presidential disapproval due to policy reasons), and the USITC was also authorized to issue cease and desist orders in addition to exclusion orders. [15]
In 1988, the USITC moved its quarters from the Old Post Office Building to the building it remains in to this day, 500 E Street SW. [15]
Past commissioners of the USITC include:
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. [16]
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. [17]
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 against pirate websites as well as linking websites. [18]
In January 2016, it became known that the commission was charged with investigating the likely impact of the TPP on the U.S. economy and specific industries. It will calculate the estimated impact on gross domestic product, exports and imports, employment opportunities, and U.S. consumers. [19]
In January 2018, in a surprise decision, the commission unanimously overturned a 292% trade tariff that had been imposed on the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace. [20] [21]
The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 is an American trade law.
In the United States government, independent agencies are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments and the Executive Office of the President. In a narrower sense, the term refers only to those independent agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch, have regulatory or rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.
The Canada–U.S. softwood lumber dispute is one of the largest and most enduring trade disputes between both nations. This conflict arose in 1982 and its effects are still seen today. British Columbia, the major Canadian exporter of softwood lumber to the United States, was most affected, reporting losses of 9,494 direct and indirect jobs between 2004 and 2009.
On March 5, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush placed tariffs on imported steel. The tariffs took effect March 20 and were lifted by Bush on December 4, 2003. Research shows that "the costs of the Safeguard Measures [steel tariffs] outweighed their benefits in terms of aggregate GDP and employment".
The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal investigations.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, as well as enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs, and immigration. CBP is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. It has a workforce of more than 45,600 federal agents and officers. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The United States Court of International Trade is a U.S. federal court that adjudicates civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws. Seated in New York City, it exercises broad jurisdiction over most trade-related matters, and is permitted to hear and decide cases anywhere in the country, as well as abroad.
An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make factual and legal determinations.
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (MSHRC) is an independent adjudicative agency of the United States government that provides administrative trial and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act, or Mine Act, of 1977.
Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limited time from profiting from a patented technology without the consent of the patent holder. Specifically, it is the right to exclude others from: making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing, inducing others to infringe, applying for an FDA approval, and/or offering a product specially adapted for practice of the patent.
The Trade Act of 1974 was passed to give the President more power in matters of trade agreements and tariffs.
MStar Semiconductor, Inc. was a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company specializing in mixed-mode integrated circuit technologies, based in Hsinchu Hsien. MStar made hardware for multimedia and wireless communications, in the form of display ICs and mixed-mode ASIC/IPs, in addition to chip sets for GSM mobile handsets. MStar employed approx. 1300 in more than 10 branches worldwide. The company's revenue was around US$1067 million in 2010. The growth has been substantial, their revenue in 2005 was US$175 million. MStar is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the code 3697.
The history of taxation in the United States begins with the colonial protest against British taxation policy in the 1760s, leading to the American Revolution. The independent nation collected taxes on imports ("tariffs"), whiskey, and on glass windows. States and localities collected poll taxes on voters and property taxes on land and commercial buildings. In addition, there were the state and federal excise taxes. State and federal inheritance taxes began after 1900, while the states began collecting sales taxes in the 1930s. The United States imposed income taxes briefly during the Civil War and the 1890s. In 1913, the 16th Amendment was ratified, however, the United States Constitution Article 1, Section 9 defines a direct tax. The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did not create a new tax.
Dean Arthur Pinkert is an American trade lawyer.
Suniva is an American owned, U.S. based manufacturer of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. Headquartered in metropolitan Atlanta, with a cell manufacturing facility in Georgia, Suniva has sold its PV products globally.
Motorola Mobility v. Apple Inc. was one of a series of lawsuits between technology companies Motorola Mobility and Apple Inc. In the year before Apple and Samsung began suing each other on most continents, and while Apple and High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) were already embroiled in a patent fight, Motorola Mobility and Apple started a period of intense patent litigation. The Motorola-Apple patent imbroglio commenced with claims and cross-claims between the companies for patent infringement, and encompassed multiple venues in multiple countries as each party sought friendly forums for litigating its respective claims; the fight also included administrative law rulings as well as United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and European Commission involvement. In April 2012, the controversy centered on whether a FRAND license to a components manufacturer carries over to an equipment manufacturer incorporating the component into equipment, an issue not addressed in the Supreme Court's default analysis using the exhaustion doctrine in Quanta v. LG Electronics. In June 2012, appellate judge Richard Posner dismissed the U.S. case with prejudice and the parties appealed the decision a month later.
Gamevice, Inc. is a Simi Valley, California based tablet and tablet peripherals manufacturer specializing in gaming products.
On 28 April 2016, Bombardier Aerospace, a division of Bombardier Inc., recorded a firm order from Delta Air Lines for 75 CSeries CS100s plus 50 options. On 27 April 2017, The Boeing Company filed a petition for dumping them at $19.6m each, below their $33.2m production cost. On the same day, both Bombardier and the government of Canada rejected Boeing's claim, vowing to mount a "vigorous defence".
Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 585 U.S. 237 (2018), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States on the status of administrative law judges of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Court held that they are considered inferior officers of the United States and so are subject to the Appointments Clause and must be appointed through the President or other delegated officer of the United States, rather than hired. As "inferior" officers, their appointments are not subject to the Senate's advice and consent role.
Brooms manufactured from broomcorn became specifically subject to an increase in US import tariffs in 1996. In response to the US action, chief exporter of broomcorn brooms Mexico requested dispute settlement from an arbitration tribunal of NAFTA, which eventually decided in Mexico's favor. It was one of only three cases to be decided under the provisions of Chapter 20 of NAFTA.
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