What is The International Trade Administration?: The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It promotes trade through its five main units:
- The Export Assistance Center helps U.S. companies learn how to export.
- The U.S. Commercial Service has 258 offices globally to promote U.S. trade on-site.
- The Market Access and Compliance unit enforces trade agreements, and takes action on violations of international trade law.
- The Manufacturing and Services unit strengthens U.S. industry competitiveness by analyzing trade data to use in developing trade policy.
- The Import Adminstration enforces anti-dumping violatons.
What the International Trade Administration Does: The ITA implements trade agreements, investigates trade violations and measures trade statistics. It also promots trade by helping businesses understand the complexities of exporting and the markets to which they export.
How the International Trade Administration Affects the U.S. Economy: The ITA increases exports which improves the trade deficit and current account deficit. If the ITA could remove all trade barriers, the average family would gain $7,800 per year in lower costs in the things they buy.
How the International Trade Administrations Affects You: The ITA is the go-to agency if you want to understand more about U.S. Trade, or if you are a business involved in overseas trade. Here are some specific sites within ITA:
- Trade Stats Express - General information about the U.S. exports and imports to various countries
- Export.gov provides market research about any foreign market.
- Export Assistance helps you get set up to export to various countries. It also provides trade missions you can join.
