The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has announced the initiation of an investigation into the economic impact on the United States of all trade agreements. 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 and will cover all trade agreements implemented since January 1, 1984. The USITC’s report will cover the Uruguay Round Agreements; the North American Free Trade Agreement (and its successor, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (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.
As required by the statute, the USITC, 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. In order to prepare the report, the USITC is seeking comment from all interested parties. The USITC will also hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation on October 6, 2020. Below are key dates for this investigation:
- September 21, 2020 – Submission of requests to appear at the hearing.
- September 25, 2020 – Submission of prehearing briefs and statements.
- October 6, 2020 – Public hearing.
- October 23, 2020 – Submission of post-hearing briefs and statements.
- November 6, 2020 – Submission of all other written comments for the record.
All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection. Any confidential business information received in this investigation and used in preparing the report will not be published in a manner revealing the operations of the company supplying the information. Filings must be made through the USITC’s Electronic Document Information System (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov. No in-person paper-based filings or paper copies of any electronic filings will be accepted until further notice.