The International Trade Administration
(ITA) is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace.
With its mission to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promote
U.S. exports and business investment in the United States, and ensure fair
trade through the rigorous enforcement of our trade laws and agreements, ITA is
continuously improving its outreach to stakeholders, clients, and the general
public.

ITAs
efforts to promote exports and business investment support President Obamas
National Export Initiative (NEI)/NEXT, SelectUSA, and the nations sustained
economic growth. The Presidents Open Data Initiative is a critical element of
ITAs efforts to help U.S. companies compete and win in global markets.
Providing actionable information to U.S. companies, foreign buyers of U.S.
goods and services, and foreign investors in projects that create jobs in the
United States is a key strategy within the Department of Commerces Strategic
Plan.

During
the past year, ITA has continued to increase the amount of trade-related data
that is directly accessible to the public via the ITA Trade Developer Portal (TDP). The TDP is
a collection of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow software
developers to create web and mobile applications using information produced by
ITA and other U.S. government trade promotion agencies. The data and
information accessible here is targeted at helping U.S. small businesses export
and expand their operations into global markets.

The TDP includes
access to information about trade events, market research, locations of
domestic and international export assistance centers, business opportunities,
and interesting trade news and articles. In November 2014, ITA added to this list by launching
its newest API, the Consolidated
Screening List.
The Consolidated Screening List consolidates nine export screening lists of the
Departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury into a single data feed as an
aid to industry in conducting electronic screens of potential parties to
regulated transactions. ITA encourages developers to integrate trade data and
information into their Web and mobile applications and business processes to
help U.S. companies compete overseas while creating jobs at home.

During the next
few months, ITA plans to: enhance APIs that focus on business opportunities;
add new APIs, such as tariff information for goods and services covered under
Free Trade Agreements, and frequent questions asked by exporters; continue
outreach efforts to U.S. companies; and implement feedback from our customers.

In
addition to growing the inventory of publicly available datasets through the
TDP, ITA will also launch new tools that will enable users to generate reports
detailing the size, challenges, and opportunities of specific export market
segments by product type and/or country. These tools will make it much easier
for potential exporters to quickly identify areas with best opportunities, by
giving them access to market intelligence based on intimate knowledge of each
market gleaned from ITA industry experts and ITA trade specialists in the
United States and working on the ground in 75 countries around the world.