The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has initiated an investigation of the economic impact on the United States of all trade agreements with respect to which Congress has enacted an implementing bill under trade authorities procedures since January 1, 1984.

The investigation, Economic Impact of Trade Agreements Implemented Under Trade Authorities Procedures, 2021 Report, is required by section 105(f)(2) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015.

As required by the statute, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will submit its report to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance by June 29, 2021.

The report is the second of two required by the statute.  In addition to updating information provided in the first report, the second report will cover the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and update and add new modeling and other information.  The Commission submitted its first report on June 29, 2016.

The Commission’s report will cover the Uruguay Round Agreements; the North American Free Trade Agreement and its successor, the USMCA; and U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru, and Singapore.

The USITC is seeking input for the investigation from all interested parties.  The USITC will hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation on October 6, 2020.  See below for important information regarding the format and location of this USITC hearing.

Requests to appear at the hearing should be filed no later than 5:15 p.m. on September 21, 2020, with the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436.  See below for important information regarding filing a request to appear at a USITC hearing.

The USITC also welcomes written submissions for the record.  Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary of the Commission at the above address and should be submitted no later than 5:15 p.m. on November 6, 2020. All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection.  See below for important information regarding the filing of written submissions for USITC investigations.

IMPORTANT: 

1. All filings, including requests to appear at the hearing and written submissions, must be made through the Commission’s Electronic Document Information System (EDIS, https://edis.usitc.gov). No in-person paper-based filings or paper copies of any electronic filings will be accepted until further notice. Persons with questions regarding electronic filing should contact the Office of the Secretary, Docket Services Division (EDIS3Help@usitc.gov), or consult the Commission’s Handbook on Filing Procedures.


2. Information concerning the format of the hearing and certain other hearing details will be announced on the USITC website at
   https://usitc.gov/research_and_analysis/what_we_are_working_on.htm.  Once on that webpage, scroll down to the entry for this investigation and click on the link to “hearing instructions.” Interested parties should check the USITC website periodically for updates.

Further information on the scope of the investigation and appropriate submissions is available in the USITC’s notice of investigation, dated June 11, 2020, which can be downloaded from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or may be obtained by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or commissionhearings@usitc.gov.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has initiated an investigation of the economic impact on the United States of all trade agreements with respect to which Congress has enacted an implementing bill under trade authorities procedures since January 1, 1984.

The investigation, Economic Impact of Trade Agreements Implemented Under Trade Authorities Procedures, 2016 Report, is required by section 105(f)(2) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015.

As required by the statute, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will submit its report to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance by June 29, 2016.  The report is the first of two required by the statute; the Commission will submit a second report in five years.

The Commission’s report will cover the Uruguay Round Agreements, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA -- Canada, Mexico), and U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru, and Singapore.

The USITC seeks input for this report from all interested parties. The USITC will hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation on November 17, 2015. Requests to appear at the hearing should be filed no later than 5:15 p.m. on November 2, 2015, with the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20436.  For further information, call 202-205-2000.

The USITC also welcomes written submissions for the record. Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary of the Commission at the above address and should be submitted at the earliest practical date, but no later than 5:15 p.m. on February 5, 2016.  All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection.

Further information on the scope of this investigation and appropriate submissions is available in the USITC's notice of investigation, dated August 4, 2015, which can be obtained from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or at 202-205-2000.

Irving A. Williamson, Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), has announced that James R. Holbein has been named Director of the USITC'S Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements.

Holbein will oversee the Commission's office which is responsible for maintaining and publishing the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), represents the United States in the work of the World Customs Organization in Brussels, and coordinates interagency work on statistical annotations in the tariff schedule. The office also provides advice on tariff legislation and on tariff provisions in trade agreements and manages a heavily used online database of tariff and trade information.

Holbein served as Secretary to the Commission from 2011 until his appointment. In that role, he oversaw the filing and maintenance of the agency's official records and the conduct of the Commission's public meetings and hearings. He joined the USITC in 2008 as the supervisor of the agency's Docket Services operations and was named Director of the Office of Docket Services when that office was established in 2010.

Prior to joining the USITC, Holbein was President of Global Trade Consulting LLC, managing projects for start-up companies in the cybersecurity and environmental technology sectors. He also provided services involving regional integration, international trade policy, and alternative dispute resolution to governments, companies, and non-government organizations. In addition, he participated on several panels under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 19, where he reviewed appeals of antidumping and countervailing duty determinations by NAFTA government agencies.

Previously, Holbein served for 10 years as the U.S. Secretary of the NAFTA Secretariat at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he managed an international trade dispute settlement process. Prior to that, he was a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State for 10 years, serving in Korea and Norway.

Holbein holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a juris doctor degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia. He resides in Burke, VA, with his wife and two sons.

The USITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

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