Background

The International Trade Administration (ITA), the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are three trade-related agencies funded through the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations.¹ This report provides an overview of these agencies' programs and a comparison of the FY2022 CJS proposals with the previous fiscal year's enacted legislation.² In this report, appropriations are rounded to the nearest thousand dollar value. However, for greater accuracy, percentage change and annual differences are calculated using whole, not rounded, numbers; this means that in some instances totals may not sum due to rounding and there may be small differences between the actual percentage change and the percentage change that would be calculated by using the rounded amounts discussed in the report.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), provided a total of $703.0 million for the three trade agencies, including $530.0 million in direct appropriations for ITA; ³ $103.0 million for USITC; and a total of $70.0 million for USTR.⁴ The FY2021 appropriations for the three CJS trade-related agencies represented a 3.6% increase ($24.4 million) from the previous fiscal year's enacted amount.

In addition to regular appropriations, Congress also passed supplemental funding in December 2019 for USTR in Title IX of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (USMCA, P.L. 116-113). USMCA provided a total of $90.0 million for USTR, to remain available until September 30, 2023. The supplemental funds were provided for USTR to monitor compliance with labor and environmental obligations of the agreement and to carry out the enforcement of USMCA environmental obligations, including for state-to-state dispute settlement actions. In this report, the FY2021 and FY2022 funding levels are taken from the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2021 and 2022, and do not include supplemental appropriations provided in USMCA.

See the Appendix for enacted budget authority for the trade-related agencies for FY2012-FY2021.

FY2022 Appropriations

For FY2022, the Administration requested a total of $735.3 million in appropriations for the three CJS trade-related agencies (Table 1). The request represented $32.3 million (4.6%) more than the FY2021 enacted amount. The President's budget included $559.3 million in direct appropriations for ITA; $103.0 million for USITC; and a total of $73.0 million for USTR.4

The House Committee-reported bill (H.R. 4505, 117^th Congress) proposed a total of $757.7 million in appropriations for the three CJS trade-related agencies, which was $54.7 million (7.8%) more than the FY2021 enacted amount and $22.4 million (3.0%) more than the President's budget request. The House committee-reported bill would have provided $566.4 million in direct appropriations for ITA; $118.5 million for USITC; and a total of $72.8 million for USTR.

On October 21, 2021, a CJS proposal was introduced in the Senate (S. 3042, 117^th Congress). The bill was referred to the Committee on Appropriations but was not marked up by the whole committee. The Senate CJS bill proposed a total of $764.6 million for the three CJS trade-related agencies, which represented $61.6 million (8.8%) more than the FY2021-enacted amount, and $29.3 million (4.0%) more than the President's request. The bill proposed $572.8 million in direct appropriations for ITA; $118.8 million for USITC; and a total of $73.0 million for USTR.

Following a series of continuing resolutions, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which was signed into law on March 15, 2022 (P.L. 117-103). The act provided $740.0 million for the three trade-related agencies, which represented $37.0 million (5.3%) more than the FY2021 enacted amount, and $4.7 million (0.6%) more than the President's budget request. The act included $559.0 million in direct appropriations for ITA; $110.0 million for USITC; and a total of $71.0 million for USTR.

International Trade Administration (ITA)⁵

ITA is a bureau within the Department of Commerce whose mission is to improve U.S. prosperity by strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promoting trade and investment, and ensuring compliance with trade laws and agreements. ITA provides export promotion services, works to enforce and ensure compliance with trade laws and agreements, administers trade remedies such as antidumping and countervailing duties, and provides analytical support for ongoing trade negotiations.⁶

In October 2013, ITA reorganized, consolidating four organizational units into three more functionally aligned units: (1) Global Markets, (2) Enforcement and Compliance, and (3) Industry and Analysis. ITA also has a fourth organizational unit, the Executive and Administrative Directorate, which is responsible for providing policy leadership, information technology support, and administration services for all of ITA. (Table 2 outlines the FY2022 budget for ITA by unit. For historical budget amounts for ITA units, see the Appendix.)

ITA is funded through a combination of direct appropriations and user fees collected for certain services. For FY2022, the Administration requested $559.3 million in direct appropriations for ITA, with an additional $11.0 million to be collected in fees, for a total of $570.3 million in authorized spending. The budget request was $29.3 million (5.5%) more than the FY2021 enacted direct appropriation.

The House Appropriations Committee-reported bill (H.R. 4505) proposed $566.4 million in direct appropriations for ITA, with an additional $11.0 million to be collected in fees, for a total of $577.4 million in authorized spending. The House proposal would have been $36.4 million (6.9%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding, and $7.1 million (1.3%) more than the Administration's request.

The Senate introduced bill (S. 3042) proposed $572.8 million in direct appropriations for ITA, with an additional $11.0 million to be collected in fees, for a total of $583.8 million in authorized spending. The Senate proposal would have been $42.8 million (8.1%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding, and $13.5 million (2.4%) more than the President's budget request.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103), provided $559.0 million in direct appropriations for ITA, with an additional $11.0 million to be collected in fees, for a total of $570.0 million in authorized spending. The FY2022 appropriation is $29.0 million (5.5%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding, and $0.3 million (-0.1%) less than the President's request.

Global Markets

ITA's Global Markets (GM) unit is a combination of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service (US&FCS) program, which provides export promotion services to U.S. businesses, and the SelectUSA program, which works to attract foreign investment into the United States. (For more on SelectUSA, see the section "SelectUSA Program, ITA" below.) Through US&FCS, GM aims to promote U.S. exports by helping U.S. exporters research foreign markets and identify opportunities abroad. GM's country and regional experts―in domestic and overseas offices—advise U.S. companies on market access, local standards, and regulations. The unit also seeks to help to make business-to-business connections through trade shows, fairs, and missions. GM is designed to advance U.S. commercial interests by engaging with foreign governments and U.S. businesses, identifying and resolving market barriers, and leading efforts that advocate for U.S. firms with foreign governments.

The Administration requested $351.3 million in funding for GM in FY2022, which is $10.6 million more (3.1%) than the FY2021 enacted amount.

The House Committee on Appropriations also recommended $351.3 million for GM.⁷

The Senate-introduced bill did not include a specific funding level for GM; however the explanatory statement, released on the Senate Appropriations Committee's website, highlights specific activities within GM to be funded at FY2021 enacted levels or higher.⁸

The Joint Explanatory Text accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 provided "no less than the fiscal year 2021 enacted level for Global Markets" ($340.8 million).⁹ The agreement also directed ITA to report to the Committees on "recommendations and estimated costs to increase U.S. trade and investment opportunities, including the expansion of the U.S. Commercial Service, in Africa and regions of international strategic significance for the United States such as Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific." The agreement also supported ITA's efforts to generally increase its international commercial engagement efforts, including hiring additional staff and establishing new international offices in countries of strategic importance, such as with the Quad strategic partnership countries.¹⁰

Enforcement and Compliance

The mission of ITA's Enforcement and Compliance unit is to enforce U.S. trade laws and ensure compliance with negotiated international trade agreements. The Enforcement and Compliance unit is responsible for enforcing U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) laws, overseeing a variety of programs and policies regarding the enforcement and administration of U.S. trade remedy laws, assisting U.S. industry and businesses with unfair trade matters, and administering the Foreign-Trade Zone program and other U.S. import programs.¹¹

For FY2022, the Administration requested $110.6 million in funding for the Enforcement and Compliance unit.¹² The request was $11.4 million (11.5%) more than the previous year's enacted amount. The ITA congressional budget justification included $8.0 million to support its work evaluating Section 232 tariff exclusions for steel and aluminum products and $0.8 million for continued work on the Aluminum Import Monitoring (AIM) system, which was launched in 2021.¹³ The ITA congressional budget justification also highlighted an upward trend in the number of AD/CVD cases.

The House Committee on Appropriations recommended $117.7 million for the Enforcement and Compliance unit. The House proposal was $18.5 million (18.6%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding and $7.1 million (6.4%) more than the Administration's request.¹⁴ The Committee recommended $1.3 million to support AIM ($0.5 million above the request), and an additional $6.1 million above the request "to support the creation of a ninth AD/CVD enforcement office," to alleviate workload burdens and staffing declines in the existing AD/CVD offices.

The Senate-introduced bill (S. 3042) did not include a specific funding level for the Enforcement and Compliance unit. The explanatory statement accompanying the bill highlighted specific activities and funding within Enforcement and Compliance unit's portfolio. For example, the released language would have provided $6.5 million above the FY2021 enacted level to establish a ninth AD/CVD enforcement office and hire additional staff to enforce U.S. AD/CVD laws. In addition, the released explanatory language would have provided $1.3 million to support AIM.¹⁵

The Joint Explanatory Text accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 provided "no less than" $105.5 million for Enforcement and Compliance, and within the amounts provided, up to $3.0 million for the establishment of a ninth AD/CVD Office; and up to $1.3 million for staffing and other necessary expenses to support the AIM system. The agreement also included up to a $3.0 million increase to support ITA's role in "the review of requests for exclusion from steel and aluminum tariffs applied under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962."¹⁶

Industry and Analysis

ITA's Industry and Analysis unit brings together ITA's industry, trade, and economic experts to advance the competitiveness of U.S. industries through the development and execution of international trade and investment policies, export promotion strategies, and investment promotion. It analyzes economic and international policies to improve market access for U.S. businesses, and designs and implements trade and investment promotion programs. The unit aims to serve as the primary liaison between U.S. industries and the federal government on trade and investment promotion activities. It administers programs that support small- and medium-sized enterprises, such as the Market Development Cooperator Program.

For FY2022, the Administration requested $72.1 million for Industry and Analysis. This request was $6.1 million (9.2%) more than the FY2021 enacted amount.¹⁷ ITA's congressional budget justification included $2.9 million to support 12 positions to conduct national security reviews for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and an additional $3.1 million to support the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) (for more on SIAT, see the section "Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT), ITA" below).¹⁸ ITA also highlighted increased administrative costs for the unit, due to an expected increase in dispute cases filed under USMCA.¹⁹

Neither the House nor the Senate bill provided a specific funding level for the Industry and Analysis unit.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, did not provide a specific funding level for the Industry and Analysis unit.

U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC)

USITC is an independent, quasi-judicial agency responsible for conducting trade-related investigations and providing independent technical advice on U.S. international trade policy to Congress, the President, and USTR. The Commission (1) investigates and determines whether imports injure a domestic industry or violate U.S. intellectual property rights; (2) provides independent tariff, trade, and competitiveness-related analysis to the President, Congress, and USTR; and (3) maintains the U.S. tariff schedule. USITC also serves as a federal resource for trade data and other trade policy information. It makes most of its information and analyses available to the public to promote understanding of competitiveness, international trade issues, and the role that international trade plays in the U.S. economy.

USITC's annual budget request to Congress is subject to two types of submission: (1) the President's budget request for the Commission, which is included in the President's annual budget; and (2) the Commission's independent budget request. USITC has the authority to submit its independent budget directly to Congress without revision by the President, pursuant to Section 175 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The President's FY2022 budget requested $103.0 million in funding for USITC, an amount equal to the FY2021 enacted funding. While the President's budget would not have increased the agency's funding, the Commission's independent budget submission to Congress requested $118.8 million for FY2022, which was $15.8 million (15.3%) above the FY2021 enacted funding level.²⁰ The Commission proposed that, with increased funding, it would hire additional staff to respond to increased workloads due to AD/CVD and safeguards cases and would upgrade its information technology.²¹

The House committee-reported bill proposed $118.5 million for USITC in FY2022, which was $15.5 million (15.0%) more than both the FY2021 enacted level and the President's budget request, and $0.3 million less than USITC's independently submitted budget.

The Senate-introduced bill proposed $118.8 million for USITC, which was $15.8 million (15.3%) above both the FY2021 enacted funding level and the President's budget request. The Senate proposal was equal to the Commission's independently submitted budget request.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provided $110.0 million for USITC, which represented $7.0 million (6.8%) more than both the FY2021-enacted level and the President's budget request. The agreement also directed the Commission to produce a report with an economic analysis of the existing tariffs implemented under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.²²

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

USTR has primary responsibility for developing and coordinating U.S. international trade and direct investment policies, as the head of the interagency trade policy coordinating process.²³ As part of the Executive Office of the President, USTR is the President's principal advisor on trade policy and the President's chief negotiator for international trade agreements, including commodity and direct investment negotiations. USTR negotiates directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements (which may require legislative approval to enter into effect) and resolve trade disputes, and participates in global trade policy organizations such as the World Trade Organization. It also meets with business groups, policymakers, and public interest groups on trade policy issues.²⁴

In addition to direct appropriations for USTR, Congress can provide USTR supplementary funding from the congressionally established Trade Enforcement Trust Fund. USTR may use funding from this trust fund for certain trade enforcement activities, authorized by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. See the section below, "Trade Enforcement Trust Fund (TETF), USTR" for more detail.

For FY2022, the Administration requested a total of $73.0 million for USTR, including $58.0 million in direct appropriations for salaries and expenses and $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for certain trade enforcement activities (Table 3). The total request was $3.0 million (4.3%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding level.

The House committee-reported bill would have provided a total of $72.8 million for USTR, including $57.8 million in direct appropriations for salaries and expenses and $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for certain trade enforcement activities. The House proposal was $2.8 million (4.0%) more than the FY2021 enacted funding level, and $0.2 million less (-0.3%) than the Administration's budget request.

The Senate bill proposed a total of $73.0 million for USTR, including $58.0 million in direct appropriations for salaries and expenses and $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for certain trade enforcement activities. The bill represented $3.0 million (4.3%) more than the FY2021-enacted funding, and equal to the Administration's request.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provided a total of $71.0 million for USTR, including $56.0 million in direct appropriations for salaries and expenses and $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for certain trade enforcement activities. The FY2022 enacted appropriations were $1.0 million (1.4%) more than the previous year's enacted amount, and $2.0 million (-2.7%) less than the President's request. The Joint Explanatory Statement also directed USTR to establish and administer an exclusion process for the Section 301 tariffs and to seek parity for American exports that have been targeted by retaliatory tariffs.

In addition to regular appropriations, Congress also passed supplemental funding in December 2019 for USTR in the USMCA implementing act.²⁵ Under this act, Congress provided $50.0 million for USTR to remain available until September 30, 2023, for salaries and expenses to monitor compliance with labor and environmental obligations of the agreement. USMCA implementing legislation also includes $40.0 million for the TETF "to carry out the enforcement of environmental obligations under the USMCA, including for state-to-state dispute settlement actions, during fiscal years 2020 through 2023."²⁶

Selected Trade-Related Programs and Activities

Over the past decade, Congress has provided funding for specific trade-related programs or activities within broader agency budgets. The following programs are highlighted in this report, due to recent and ongoing congressional interest: (1) ITA's China trade enforcement and compliance activities; (2) ITA's investment promotion activities in its SelectUSA Program; (3) the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) within ITA; and (4) the Trade Enforcement Trust Fund, which funds certain activities of USTR. (See Table A-3 for historical budget authority for these selected programs.)

China Trade Enforcement and Compliance Activities, ITA

Since 2004, Congress has dedicated some of ITA's funding to AD/CVD enforcement and compliance activities with respect to China and other nonmarket economies.²⁷ ITA's Office of China Compliance was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-199). Its primary role has been to enforce U.S. AD/CVD laws and to develop and implement other policies and programs aimed at countering unfair foreign trade practices in China. ITA's China Countervailing Duty Group was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117) to accommodate the workload that resulted from the application of countervailing duty law to imports from nonmarket economy countries.²⁸

ITA's FY2022 budget justification requested $16.4 million, within ITA's budget, for China antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and compliance activities in FY2022. This amount is equal to the previous year's enacted amount. Both the House committee-reported bill and the Senate-introduced bill also proposed $16.4 million for such activities.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provided $16.4 million within ITA's budget, for China antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and compliance activities.

SelectUSA Program, ITA

SelectUSA was established by executive order in 2011 as a Commerce Department program to promote the United States as an investment market and to address investor climate concerns that could impede investment in the United States. SelectUSA aims to coordinate investment-related resources across more than 20 federal agencies; serve as an information resource for international investors; and advocate for U.S. cities, states, and regions as investment destinations.²⁹ SelectUSA is a part of ITA's Global Markets unit.

Between FY2012 and FY2020, CJS appropriations provided specific funding levels for SelectUSA. In FY2021 and FY2022, neither the Administration's budget justification nor congressional appropriators outlined a specific funding level for SelectUSA within ITA.

Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT), ITA

ITA's Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) gathers statistics about air passenger travelers in the United States. Federal agencies use these statistics for a variety of purposes, such as to estimate the contribution of international travel to the economy, develop public policy on the travel industry, and forecast staffing needs at consulates and ports of entry.

SIAT is a program within the Industry and Analysis unit at ITA. For the SIAT program in FY2022, ITA proposed $7.9 million—$3.1 million more than the "existing program amount of $4.8 million." The proposal would have added two positions to SIAT.³⁰ With the proposed increase, ITA aimed to expand coverage of data collection to "non-traditional, non-urban markets not usually covered by the SIAT, allowing ITA to assist smaller states and destinations with market intelligence," and to collect data to inform the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic recovery programs for the travel and tourism industries (as directed in H.Rept. 116-455).³¹

The House Committee on Appropriations' "recommendation [for ITA] includes the requested increase for [SIAT.]"³²

Language in the explanatory statement, released on the Senate Committee on Appropriations website, to accompany the Senate-introduced bill, would have also provided the full amount requested to fund SIAT.³³

The Joint Explanatory Text, accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provided an increase of $1.0 million for SIAT.³⁴

Trade Enforcement Trust Fund (TETF), USTR

In order to provide additional funding for trade enforcement activities, Congress established the Trade Enforcement Trust Fund (TETF) in 2016. In Section 611 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-125), Congress directed the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer $15.0 million annually into TETF from the general fund of Treasury, and outlined authorized uses of the funds.³⁵ Under Section 611(d) of this act, funds are available to USTR, "only as provided by appropriations Acts," for any of the following: (1) to monitor and enforce U.S. free trade agreements and World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments; (2) to support trade capacity-building assistance to help partner countries meet their free trade agreement obligations and commitments; and (3) to investigate petitions concerning unfair trade practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. ³⁶ The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 also authorizes USTR to transfer funds to select federal agencies for trade enforcement activities authorized in Section 611(d).

For FY2022, the Administration requested $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for USTR, for trade enforcement activities authorized by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The request was equal to the FY2021 enacted level, and equal to the House and Senate proposals.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provided $15.0 million to be derived from the TETF for certain trade enforcement activities of USTR. (See Table 3.)

Appendix. Budget Authority Tables