ITA Plans to Reorganize Internal Divisions by October
The International Trade Administration received Congressional approval for a consolidation program that will reduce the organization’s business units from four to three, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez said June 14. The move will allow ITA to “better align our services for our stakeholders and our clients,” said Sanchez, speaking at a National Foreign Trade Council event.
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The new divisions will be:
- Global Markets, which will include the U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service and what is now Market Access and Compliance. The USFCS will keep its name and brand.
- Industry and Analysis, which will replace the division currently called Manufacturing and Services; will house sector experts, economic analysis team and trade promotion program management
- Enforcement and Compliance, which will replace the division currently known as Import Administration; will conduct antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and enforce trade agreement compliance
ITA received approval for the changes from relevant Congressional appropriations committees about a month ago, and the reorganization will ideally be complete by October 1, Sanchez said. It will include a reduction in employees, largely through attrition, he said, but will have no impact on state- or foreign-based ITA employees. The financial savings from the cut will be “redeployed into our missions,” Sanchez said.
The NFTC event was focused around President Obama’s National Export Initiative, and the goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. Obama “purposely set a stretch goal,” with the NEI, Sanchez said, adding he couldn’t make a prediction about whether that goal will actually be achieved. “I’ve still got about a year and a half left.” One of the biggest challenges ITA faces in accomplishing that goal is simply spreading the word about the administration’s programs. All too often, business owners tell Sanchez they had no idea about what the ITA does, Sanchez said. The agency has never had enough funding to craft a media or public relations plan -- ITA has gone without a budget increase in 12 years, he said. “The budget affected us long before sequestration.”