International Trade Administration

The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services.

The ITA's stated goals are to

ITA consists of three sub-units. These are: Industry and Analysis (I&A), Global Markets (GM), and Enforcement and Compliance (E&C).

The U.S. Commercial Service, through its Strategic Corporate Partnership program, has Public Private Partnership agreements with 17 private organizations, including several banks, legal and regulatory organizations, transportation and shipping organizations, event organizers, trade risk service companies and the publisher of Commercial News USA, the official export promotion magazine of the U.S. Department of Commerce, The ecommerce partner is the Federation of International Trade Associations under which the USCS contributes market research and other reports on GlobalTrade.net.

The ITA was created on January 2, 1980, and is headed by the under secretary of commerce for international trade (USC(IT)), the principal adviser to the secretary of commerce on American imports and exports. The under secretary is the head of the International Trade Administration within the Commerce Department.

The under secretary is appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate. Gilbert B. Kaplan was nominated by President Trump for the position of Under Secretary for International Trade on April 11, 2017, and confirmed by the Senate on March 13, 2018. Gilbert Kaplan left the position in late 2019. President Biden appointed Marisa Lago as undersecretary in 2021.

The under secretary of commerce for international trade is the principal officer of the United States Department of Commerce charged with promoting American exports and assisting general international trade. As the Administrator of the International Trade Administration, the under secretary serves as a member of the Tourism Policy Council and the National Intellectual Property Council. The under secretary participates in the development of United States trade policy, identifies and resolves market access and compliance issues, administers American trade laws, and undertakes a range of trade promotion and trade advocacy efforts.

With the rank of under secretary, the USC(IT) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule. Since January 2014, the annual rate of pay for Level III appointees is $167,000.