USITC Response to COVID-19

Updated May 14, 2020: The Commission has extended its COVID-19 Action Plan through July 10, 2020. Dates have been updated throughout the page.

The USITC is open for business and will continuously monitor the situation.

• There is concern over the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the world.


• The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other relevant agencies have been providing guidance to agencies regarding COVID-19 as the situation evolves, and the USITC reviews and implements this guidance accordingly.


• Out of an abundance of caution, and with the interests of our employees and those who have business before the Commission in mind, the Commission is undertaking certain measures that will affect how you do business with the agency.

The Commission has implemented the following actions at this time. Except otherwise noted all actions will be in effect until July 10, 2020.

GENERAL PRACTICE

• Since March 17, 2020, all U.S. International Trade Commission employees have been teleworking full time. Commission staff may be contacted via telephone and email as usual. Certain specific contacts are also listed below.


• Federal Register notices announcing any changes to its rules, practices, and procedures:
  • Temporary Change to Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Conference and Hearing Procedures
  
  
  • USITC Rules of Practice and Procedure (337 Investigations) including updates through March 19, 2020
  
  
  • USITC Rules of Practice and Procedure (Title VII Investigations) including updates through March 19, 2020​


• The Secretary’s Office will accept only electronic filings during this time. Filings 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. See the Federal Register notices above.

VISITOR ACCESS to the USITC Building - UPDATED

• The USITC Building is now closed to the public until further notice. Information will be updated here. As noted above, the Secretary’s Office will only accept electronic filings.

SECTION 337

• The Commission has ordered the Administrative Law Judges to postpone any in-person hearings until after July 10, 2020.
  • Notice of Commission Determination to Extend Postponement of All In-Person Section 337 Hearings Until July 10, 2020
  
  
  • Notice of Commission Determination to Postpone All In-Person Section 337 Hearings Scheduled to Take Place Within the Next 60 Days


• All discovery will continue and any essential outside participation by staff will be decided on a case-by-case basis.


• Section 337-related FAQs

TITLE VII PRELIMINARY CONFERENCES, HEARINGS, VOTES AND FACTFINDING HEARINGS

• Until July 10, 2020 (unless otherwise extended), no in-person preliminary phase Title VII (antidumping and countervailing duty) staff conferences will be held for new and ongoing investigations. Instead, interested parties will have the opportunity to provide witness testimony and responses to staff questions through written submissions, in addition to post conference briefs. Information and guidance will be provided to parties by the investigative staff in each affected investigation.


• The Commission will conduct all Title VII votes by notation, and there will be no in-person vote until July 10, 2020 (unless otherwise extended). Vote outcomes will be reported via news releases in the News Release section on the homepage of the USITC web site, as usual, and posted on EDIS.


• Until July 10, 2020 (unless otherwise extended), no in-person hearings will be held for final phase Title VII investigations, five-year (sunset) reviews, and those held under Section 332 and Section 131. In lieu of in-person hearings, the Commission staff will provide specific information and guidance to parties in each affected investigation on alternative means of providing information to the Commission. Interested parties will be invited to provide written testimony and responses to questions issued by the Commission with certified written responses; parties may also be invited to participate in virtual or telephonic closing and/or rebuttal statements. The Commission continues to consider its capabilities and may announce future changes to its procedures.


• Title VII-related FAQs


• Temporary Change to Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Conference and Hearing Procedures

AGENCY MEETINGS, SEMINARS, AND BRIEFINGS WITH OUTSIDE VISITORS

• All scheduled in-person group meetings, seminars, and conferences are canceled or postponed until July 10, 2020 (unless otherwise extended). If you were scheduled for a meeting, seminar, or conference at the USITC building, contact the event organizer for further information.

VENDORS – INVOICE SUBMISSION

• Vendors should continue to submit invoices to Invoices@usitc.gov. The Commission will continue to process them as normal.

FOIA REQUESTS

• There may be delays in responding to FOIA requests that seek documents that are available only in hard copy. FOIA staff will also be unable to process requests and correspondence submitted by mail until FOIA staff is physically back in the office. You may submit FOIA requests using our online portal or by email to FOIA.SE.SE@usitc.gov. We encourage you to send any other FOIA-related correspondence to FOIA.SE.SE@usitc.gov or to our FOIA Public Liaison, Sharon Bellamy at sharon.bellamy@usitc.gov.

QUESTIONS?

Media inquiries and general questions: Peg O’Laughlin, margaret.olaughlin@usitc.gov

Filing questions: edis3help@usitc.gov
[Note: general telephone lines in the Office of the Secretary will not be monitored. Please send an email with your contact information and a staff member will call you.]

Hearing-related questions: commissionhearings@usitc.gov or preliminaryconferences@usitc.gov

FEDERAL LINKS ABOUT COVID-19

The U.S. government has established 3 top-level websites for the latest official information on COVID-19.

• coronavirus.gov is the primary portal for public information curated by the COVID-19 Task Force at the White House, working in conjunction with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agency stakeholders, and links to the appropriate Federal agency website as the authoritative source for that information as necessary.
  
• www.cdc.gov/coronavirus provides the latest public health and safety information from the CDC and for the overarching medical and health provider community on COVID-19. The site contains consumer and medical information on how the virus spreads, symptoms, prevention and treatment, stigma, cases and what to do if you are sick, along with frequently asked questions.
  
• www.usa.gov/coronavirus catalogs all U.S. government activities related to COVID-19; it is also available in Spanish at https://www.usa.gov/espanol/coronavirus.