The international trade analysts of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC, or the Commission), Office of Industries, routinely monitor trade developments in all natural resource, agricultural, and manufacturing industries and in the services sector, enabling the Commission to better anticipate and address issues of concern in its various roles under U.S. trade statutes.a Trade monitoring at the industry/commodity sector and subsector levels (the latter referred to as industry groups and subgroups in this report) is a facet of the research and analysis undertaken by the Office of Industries as part of its responsibility to provide advice and technical information on industry and trade issues.

On August 27, 1993, on its own motion and pursuant to section 332(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1332(b)), the U.S. International Trade Commission instituted investigation No. 332-345, Annual Reports on U.S. Trade Shifts in Selected Industries. The report format was developed by the Commission in response to Congressional interest in establishing a systematic means of examining and reporting on the significance of major trade shifts, by product and with leading U.S. trade partners, in all natural-resource, agricultural, and manufacturing industries.

On December 20, 1994, the Commission on its own motion expanded the scope of this study to include selected service industries, thus providing more comprehensive coverage of U.S. trade performance and overall economic competitiveness. Under the expanded scope, the Commission publishes two separate reports annually: Shifts in U.S. Merchandise Trade and Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade.

a Major roles include determining whether U.S. industries are materially injured or threatened with material injury by unfair imports, conducting studies on the international competitiveness of U.S. industries, and advising the President and the Congress on the likely effects of trade-policy changes and proposals.