Florida lawmaker: DOGE should turn its gaze to the U.S. International Trade Commission | Opinion
Over the last few weeks, President Donald Trump has begun to reshape the government according to his vision, eliminating wasteful spending, cutting down on unnecessary bureaucracy and using tariffs to gain global leverage.
As a Florida Republican lawmaker, I believe Trump is taking the kind of action his supporters hoped he would take when they voted for him in historic numbers.
However, there’s a little-known government agency with outsize power over the American economy that has gone rogue, and it’s still flying under the radar: the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent, nonpartisan agency, plays a crucial role in U.S. international trade, investigating unfair trade practices, adjudicating intellectual property disputes and maintaining the Harmonized Tariff. Miami-Dade, which I represent, is a significant hub for international trade.
Unfortunately, unelected bureaucrats at the ITC could undermine much of Trump’s trade and economic agenda. The agency has vast authority to protect or destroy domestic industry. Recent internal squabbles over policy between individual commission members and these bureaucrats have made headlines, exposing a split in agency ideology.
We urge the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take a hard look at the ITC, originally intended to protect American industries, has recently favored foreign companies, harming American workers and innovation. As President Trump and his aides review harmful, bloated government agencies and rein them in, the ITC should be high on their list.
The ITC has significantly harmed one of Trump’s deepest loves: American steel. Recently, the ITC failed to enforce anti-dumping trade laws, which protect American steel from illegally subsidized foreign imports.
Making news recently is the case of Cleveland-Cliffs, an American steel giant, found itself facing an ITC decision that would decide the fate of their West Virginia steel mill employing over 900 Americans. The ITC decided to allow Chinese steel companies to dump cheap steel into U.S. markets, forcing Cleveland Cliffs to close their facility and lay off all 900 workers.
The Cleveland-Cliffs case is not an isolated incident. The ITC’s bias against domestic producers has become evident in numerous anti-dumping cases.
Congress originally delegated power to the ITC to force foreign competitors to play by the rules. Now, the ITC’s decisions have often let them off scot-free, leaving domestic industry to struggle under the weight of unfair competition.
The U.S. cannot afford to allow foreign producers to unfairly dominate industries crucial to national security, like steel, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.
The ITC not only favors foreign entities in anti-dumping cases, but in intellectual property cases as well. The agency can rule on patent infringement cases to protect U.S. intellectual property rights.
Under Section 337, they can ban the import of any products that they decide violate patent law. Instead of wielding that immense power to protect U.S. patents, the agency has allowed foreign patent trolls, or non-practicing entities (NPEs) that buy up old patents and sue for legal settlements, to hold American companies hostage.
A prime example of this occurred a few years ago in a patent dispute between the U.S. and foreign chip manufacturers.
The ITC almost sided with foreign companies who leveraged obsolete patents against U.S. businesses, undermining U.S. patent holders and discouraging tech innovation. The examples of the ITC undermining U.S. intellectual property abound.
That is why we urge DOGE) to take a hard look at the ITC, especially at its practices when it comes to making decisions over patent infringement claims. Federal courts can resolve these claims more easily and appropriately by instituting monetary damages that patent trolls are less likely to exploit.
President Trump continues to crush wasteful spending and unnecessary bureaucracy, and it is imperative that relatively unknown agencies like the ITC don’t slip through the cracks.
We should limit the ITC’s overreach and ensure any decisions they make are truly in the best interests of domestic companies and industries.
Juan Carlos Porras is a Republican Florida state representative. He serves as vice chair of the Industries & Professional Activities subcommittee.