United States International Trade Commission

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is an independent, bi-partisan, quasi-judicial, federal agency of the United States that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches. Further, the agency determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as subsidies, dumping, patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

Background and statutory authority

The USITC was established by Congress on September 8, 1916 as the U.S. Tariff Commission. In 1974, the name was changed to the U.S. International Trade Commission by section 171 of the Trade Act of 1974. 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 Commission's responsibilities is provided primarily by the Tariff Act of 1930, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Trade Act of 1974, the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

Mission

In its own words, the mission of the Commission is to:

1. Administer U.S. trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner;
2. ......
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