The U.S. International Trade Commission (“USITC”) recently announced the launching of a new Import Monitoring Tool that will allow the public to monitor changes in U.S. imports. The Monitoring Tool was developed as mandated by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (the “Act”), signed into law by the President of the United States on February 24, 2016.

This tool uses monthly import data gathered by the Commerce Department and expands the ability of manufacturers, producers, importers and exporters, to evaluate the volume and value trends of a product based on its classification in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Import data will be updated after each quarter. The Monitoring Tool is accessible to the public and available via the internet at: https://www.usitc.gov/import_monitoring.htm.

The data is organized so that a user can easily compare the volume and value of goods imported for consumption for the last eight quarters. Initially when accessing the tool, users will see the top 100 tariff lines ranked in descending order based on the largest absolute change in value during the most recent two quarters. A user, however, can easily isolate products of interest, view the information by import partner-country, and/or view the corresponding changes in volume.

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