United States Department of Commerce

The responsibilities of its major operating units include weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and fisheries management (NOAA); promoting U.S. exports and attracting foreign direct investment (International Trade Administration); producing the decennial census and other vital and economic statistics (Bureau of the Census); regulating the export of sensitive technologies (Bureau of Industry and Security); registering patents, trademarks, and copyrights (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office); managing and preserving the United States customary system of weights and measures (National Institute of Standards and Technology); maintaining the national interoperable broadband emergency network (FirstNet Authority); and coordinating economic recovery following a major disaster (Economic Development Administration). The Federal Employment Stabilization Office existed within the department from 1931 to 1939. In 1940, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) was transferred from the Agriculture Department, and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was also merged into the Commerce Department. In 1949, the Public Roads Administration was added to the department after the Federal Works Agency was dismantled. The Economic Development Administration was created in 1965. In 1966, the Bureau of Public Roads was transferred to the newly created Department of Transportation. The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) was created on March 5, 1969, originally established by President Richard M. Nixon as the Office of Minority Business Enterprise.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was created on October 3, 1970.

The Cabinet Council on Commerce and Trade was one of multiple Cabinet Councils established in the United States on or about February 26, 1981 by the Reagan Administration.

2020 data breach

In 2020, the Department of Commerce suffered a data breach following a cyberattack likely conducted by a nation state adversary, possibly Russia.

Herbert Hoover as secretary of commerce

right|thumb|upright=1.15|Assistants William McCracken (left) and Walter Drake (right) with Secretary Hoover (center)

Herbert Hoover was appointed Secretary of Commerce in 1921 by then-President Warren G. Harding. Hoover was, by far, the most active secretary in the history of the department until the end of his position in 1928.

After his election as president in 1920, Warren G. Harding rewarded Hoover for his support, offering to appoint him as either Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Commerce. Secretary of Commerce was considered a minor Cabinet post, with limited and vaguely defined responsibilities, but Hoover, emphasizing his identity as a businessman, accepted the position. In sharp contrast to the Interior Department, there were no scandals at Commerce.

Hoover envisioned the Commerce Department as the hub of the nation's growth and stability. His experience mobilizing the war-time economy convinced him that the federal government could promote efficiency by eliminating waste, increasing production, encouraging the adoption of data-based practices, investing in infrastructure, and conserving natural resources. Contemporaries described Hoover's approach as a "third alternative" between "unrestrained capitalism" and socialism, which was becoming increasingly popular in Europe. Hoover sought to foster a balance among labor, capital, and the government, and for this he has been variously labeled a "corporatist" or an associationalist.

Hoover demanded, and received, authority to coordinate economic affairs throughout the government. He created many sub-departments and committees, overseeing and regulating everything from manufacturing statistics to air travel. In some instances he "seized" control of responsibilities from other Cabinet departments when he deemed that they were not carrying out their responsibilities well; some began referring to him as the "Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments".

Radio

thumb|right|upright|Herbert Hoover listening to a [[radio receiver]]

thumb|right|In 1926, Chicago radio station WJAZ successfully challenged the extent of Commerce's authority under the Radio Act of 1912.

Until the passage of the Radio Act of 1912, radio transmissions (generally known as "wireless telegraphy") in the United States were largely unregulated. Radio at this time was almost exclusively employed for maritime use, so regulatory responsibility was assigned to Commerce's Bureau of Navigation.

When Hoover joined the department, almost no families had radio receivers. The early 1920s saw the rapid rise of broadcasting, to over 500 stations by the end of 1922. To receive advice on this innovation, Hoover called a series of four annual conferences, beginning with one held from February 27 to March 2, 1922. Attendees at the first conference included: Dr. S. W. Stratton, chairman (Director of Bureau of Standards), Edwin H. Armstrong, Columbia University, Capt. Samuel W. Bryant, U.S.N., Navy Department, Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, secretary Institute of Radio Engineers, Prof. L. A. Hazeltine, Stevens Institute of Technology, R. B. Howell, Metropolitan Utilities District, Omaha, Nebraska, Hiram Percy Maxim, president American Radio Relay League, Maj. Gen. George O. Squier, War Department, and representative Wallace H. White, jr., of Maine. In the summer of 1926, the federal government's authority to assign station frequencies and powers was successfully challenged by a Chicago station, WJAZ. A chaotic period followed, until the situation was stabilized by the passage of the Radio Act of 1927, which transferred radio regulation to the newly formed Federal Radio Commission (FRC). This new agency required stations to demonstrate that they met a "convenience, interest, and necessity" standard. The original idea was that the FRC would function for one year, after which regulation would return to Commerce. However, reauthorizations of the FRC were made until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934.

Travel

Hoover was also influential in the early development of air travel, and he sought to create a thriving private industry boosted by indirect government subsidies. He encouraged the development of emergency landing fields, required all runways to be equipped with lights and radio beams, and encouraged farmers to make use of planes for crop dusting. He also established the federal government's power to inspect planes and license pilots, setting a precedent for the later Federal Aviation Administration.

Other Hoover initiatives

With the goal of encouraging wise business investments, Hoover made the Commerce Department a clearinghouse of information. He recruited numerous academics from various fields and tasked them with publishing reports on different aspects of the economy, including steel production and films. To eliminate waste, he encouraged the standardization of products like automobile tires and baby bottle nipples. Other efforts at eliminating waste included reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount of crude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. He promoted international trade by opening overseas offices to advise businessmen. Hoover was especially eager to promote Hollywood films overseas.

His "Own Your Own Home" campaign was a collaboration to promote ownership of single-family dwellings, with groups such as the Better Houses in America movement, the Architects' Small House Service Bureau, and the Home Modernizing Bureau. He worked with bankers and the savings and loan industry to promote the new long-term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction. Other accomplishments included winning the agreement of U.S. Steel to adopt an eight-hour workday, and the fostering of the Colorado River Compact, a water rights compact among Southwestern states.

Foreign economic policy

The department has always been involved in promoting international non-financial business. It stations commercial attachés at embassies around the world. Currently, the key sub-agencies are the International Trade Administration, and the Bureau of Industry and Security. The ITA provides technical expertise to numerous American companies, helping them adjust to foreign specifications. It provides guidance and marketing data as well. The Office of Export Enforcement administers export controls, especially regarding the spread of nuclear technology and highly advanced electronic technology. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the policy has been to restrict high-technology flows to China. From 1949 to 1994, the department worked with the 17-nation Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls, which restricted technological flows to the Soviet Union and other communist nations. Since 1980, the Commerce Department works to neutralize the dumping of exports or the subsidies of overseas production. Along with the export controls, this work continues to generate friction with other nations. On July 20, 2020, the commerce department announced adding eleven Chinese firms to an export blacklist for committing human rights abuse against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang by conducting genetic analysis on them. Two of the firms sanctioned were subsidiaries of BGI Group, a Chinese genetic sequencing, and biomedical firm. In the same year October, the BGI Group firm was again named in the alleged exploitation of medical samples of patients testing for COVID-19 in Nevada using the 200,000 rapid testing kits donated by the United Arab Emirates under its AI and cloud computing firm, Group 42. The Emirati firm, also known as G42, has previously been named in the mass surveillance of people via an instant messaging application called ToTok, which was actually a spy application snooping on user data.

Organization

Facilities

The Department of Commerce was initially headquartered in the Willard Building at 513-515 14th Street (not to be confused with the Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue). This site is now occupied by the Hotel Washington, completed in 1918. Between 1913 and 1932, the department was located in the Commerce Building at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. In 1932, following completion of construction of the Herbert Hoover Building, the department relocated to the new facility, where it remains as of 2025.

Leadership

The department is headed by the Secretary of Commerce, a member of the president's cabinet and the tenth in line to succession to the U.S. presidency. In the event of the death, resignation, vacancy, or incapacity of the secretary, the following officials succeed to the office of secretary on an acting basis until the president appoints another person as acting secretary, or the vacancy is remedied through a permanent appointment by the president with the advice and consent of the United States Senate:

Deputy Secretary of Commerce
General Counsel of the Department of Commerce
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration
Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Commerce
Site Manager of the NIST Boulder Laboratories

Operating units

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" colspan="2" | Program

! rowspan="14" | Secretary of Commerce<br />(Deputy Secretary of Commerce)

| Economic Development Administration

| National Telecommunications and Information Administration

| Office of Business Liaison

| Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration

| Office of the Chief Information Officer

| Office of Executive Secretariat

| Office of the General Counsel

| Office of Inspector General

| Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs

| Office of Policy and Strategic Planning

| Office of Public Affairs

| Office of Security

| Office of Space Commerce

| Office of White House Liaison

! rowspan="2" | Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs

| Bureau of the Census

| Bureau of Economic Analysis

! rowspan="2" | Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security

| Bureau of Industry and Security

| Office of Export Enforcement

! Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property

| Patent and Trademark Office

! rowspan="2" | Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade

| International Trade Administration

| United States Commercial Service

! rowspan="6" | Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

| National Marine Fisheries Service

| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps

| National Ocean Service

| National Weather Service

| Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

! rowspan="2" | Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology

| National Institute of Standards and Technology

|National Technical Information Service

!Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development

|Minority Business Development Agency

Reorganization proposals

Proposals to reorganize the department go back many decades. The Department of Commerce was one of three departments that Texas governor Rick Perry advocated eliminating during his 2012 presidential campaign, along with the Department of Education and Department of Energy. Perry's campaign cited the frequency with which agencies had historically been moved into and out of the department and its lack of a coherent focus, and advocated moving its vital programs into other departments such as the Department of the Interior, Department of Labor, and Department of the Treasury. The Economic Development Administration would be eliminated.

On January 13, 2012, President Barack Obama announced his intentions to ask the United States Congress for the power to close the department and replace it with a new cabinet-level agency focused on trade and exports. The new agency would include the Office of the United States Trade Representative, currently part of the Executive Office of the President, as well as the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the United States Trade and Development Agency, and the Small Business Administration, which are all currently independent agencies. The Obama administration projected that the reorganization would save $3 billion and would help the administration's goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years. The new agency would be organized around four "pillars": a technology and innovation office including the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology; a statistical division including the United States Census Bureau and other data-collection agencies currently in the Commerce Department, and also the Bureau of Labor Statistics which would be transferred from the Department of Labor; a trade and investment policy office; and a small business development office. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would be transferred from the Department of Commerce into the Department of the Interior. Later that year, shortly before the 2012 presidential election, Obama invoked the idea of a "secretary of business" in reference to the plan. The reorganization was part of a larger proposal which would grant the president the authority to propose mergers of federal agencies, which would then be subject to an up-or-down Congressional vote. This ability had existed from the Great Depression until the Reagan presidency, when Congress rescinded the authority.

The Obama administration plan faced criticism for some of its elements. Some Congress members expressed concern that the Office of the United States Trade Representative would lose focus if it were included in a larger bureaucracy, especially given its status as an "honest broker" between other agencies, which tend to advocate for specific points of view. NOAA's climate and terrestrial operations and fisheries and endangered species programs would be expected to integrate well with agencies already in the Interior Department, such as the United States Geological Survey and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. However, environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council feared that the reorganization could distract the agency from its mission of protecting the nation's oceans and ecosystems. The plan was reiterated in the Obama administration's FY2016 budget proposal that was released in February 2015.

References

External links

Department of Commerce on USAspending.gov
Department of Commerce in the Federal Register
Department of Commerce reports and recommendations from the Government Accountability Office
US Commercial Service
Department of Commerce Representation in the UK