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{{Short description|Executive department of the U.S. Federal Government}}
{{Redirect|Department of Commerce}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = United States Department of Commerce
| logo            = Flag of the United States Department of Commerce.svg{{!}}border
| logo_width      = 175
| logo_caption    = Flag of the U.S. Department of Commerce
| seal            = Seal of the United States Department of Commerce.svg
| seal_width      = 175
| seal_caption    = Seal of the U.S. Department of Commerce
| picture         = Commerce Building view from Mall 2.jpg
| picture_caption = The [[Herbert C. Hoover Building]], the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Commerce
| formed          = {{Start date and age|1903|2|14}}
| preceding1      = [[United States Department of Commerce and Labor]]
| headquarters    = [[Herbert C. Hoover Building]]<br />1401 [[Constitution Avenue]] [[Northwest, Washington, D.C.|NW]], [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| coordinates     = {{coord|38|53|39|N|77|0|58|W|type:landmark_region:US-DC|display=inline,title}}
| region_code     = US-DC
| employees       = 46,608 (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commerce.gov/about|title=About the Department Of Commerce}}</ref>
| budget          = US$10.8 billion (2024)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/bill-summary-commerce-justice-science-andrelated-agencies-fiscal-year-2024-appropriationsbill |title=Department Of Commerce – FY 2024 Budget |publisher=appropriations.senate.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808151918/http://tamuc.edu/research/pdf-files/Department%20Of%20Commerce.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-08 |access-date=October 15, 2017}}</ref>
| chief1_name     = [[Gina Raimondo]]
| chief1_position = [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary]]
| chief2_name     = [[Don Graves]]
| chief2_position = [[United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce|Deputy Secretary]]
| website         = {{URL|www.commerce.gov|commerce.gov}}
| footnotes       = {{reflist|group=ib}}
| jurisdiction    = [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]]
}}

The '''United States Department of Commerce''' ('''DOC''') is an [[United States federal executive departments|executive department]] of the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] concerned with promoting the conditions for [[economic growth]] and opportunity.

Among its tasks are gathering economic and [[Demographics of the United States|demographic]] data for business and government decision making and helping to set industrial standards. Its main purpose is to promote job and [[economic growth]], encourage [[economic development]] and block harmful trade practices of other nations.<ref name="Commerce Dept 1995">[[Steve Charnovitz]], "Reinventing the Commerce Dept"., ''Journal of Commerce'', July 12, 1995.</ref> 

It is headed by the [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]], who reports directly to the [[President of the United States]], and is a member of the President's [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]]. The Department of Commerce is headquartered in the [[Herbert C. Hoover Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]

==History==
{{Further|topic=the department's publication|Commerce Reports}}

===Organizational history===
The department was originally created as the [[United States Department of Commerce and Labor]] on February 14, 1903. It was subsequently renamed the Department of Commerce on March 4, 1913, as the bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new [[United States Department of Labor|Department of Labor]].<ref name=":1" />

Since its creation, the Commerce Department has seen various agencies and administrative offices shift in and out of its organizational structure. The [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] was transferred from the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]] into the Commerce Department in 1925.<ref name="LOC 2020">{{cite web | title=The Peripatetic U. S. Patent Office: Locations 1790 to Present – Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business | website=Library of Congress Blogs | date=2020-07-13 | url=https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2020/07/the-patent-office/ | access-date=2023-02-04}}</ref> 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 [[United States Department of Agriculture|Agriculture Department]], and the [[Civil Aeronautics Authority]] was also merged into the Commerce Department.<ref name="FAA History">{{cite web | title=A Brief History of the FAA | website=Federal Aviation Administration | date=1956-06-30 | url=https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history | access-date=2023-02-04}}</ref> In 1949, the [[Public Roads Administration]] was added to the department after the [[Federal Works Agency]] was dismantled.<ref name=":1" />

In 1958, the independent [[Federal Aviation Agency]] was created and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was abolished. The [[United States Travel Service]] was established by the [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] on July 1, 1961, pursuant to the [[Travel Act|International Travel Act of 1961]] (75 Stat. 129; 22 U.S.C. 2121 note)<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=United States Travel and Tourism Administration (1961–1996)|url=https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/socialsciences/docdigiproj/traveltourism.html|website=Department of Commerce Digitization Repository Project|publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University]]|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926062855/http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/socialsciences/docdigiproj/traveltourism.html|archive-date=September 26, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Milestones|url=http://2001-2009.commerce.gov/About_Us/Milestones/|publisher=United States Department of Commerce|access-date=January 19, 2012|date=July 20, 2010}}</ref>

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 [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan Administration.]]<ref>21 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 671, 692 (Spring2011)</ref>

====2020 data breach====
In 2020, the Department of Commerce [[2020 United States Treasury and Department of Commerce data breach|suffered a data breach]] following a [[cyberattack]] likely conducted by a [[advanced persistent threat|nation state adversary]], possibly Russia.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213220635/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russian-government-spies-are-behind-a-broad-hacking-campaign-that-has-breached-us-agencies-and-a-top-cyber-firm/2020/12/13/d5a53b88-3d7d-11eb-9453-fc36ba051781_story.html |archive-date=2020-12-13| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russian-government-spies-are-behind-a-broad-hacking-campaign-that-has-breached-us-agencies-and-a-top-cyber-firm/2020/12/13/d5a53b88-3d7d-11eb-9453-fc36ba051781_story.html |title=Russian government spies are behind a broad hacking campaign that has breached U.S. agencies and a top cyber firm |last=Nakashima |first=Ellen |date= December 13, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2020-12-14}}</ref><ref name="reuters">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-treasury-exclsuive-idUSKBN28N0PG|title=Suspected Russian hackers spied on U.S. Treasury emails – sources|first=Christopher|last=Bing|newspaper=Reuters|date=December 14, 2020 }}</ref>

===Herbert Hoover as secretary of commerce===
[[File:HooverCommerce1926.jpg|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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Herbert C. Hoover (1923–1928) |url=https://millercenter.org/president/coolidge/essays/hoover-1923-secretary-of-commerce |website=Miller Center |date=October 4, 2016 |access-date=March 4, 2021}}</ref> Hoover was, by far, the most active secretary in the history of the department until the end of his position in 1928.<ref>Kendrick A. Clements, ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Imperfect Visionary, 1918–1928'' (2010).</ref>

After his election as president in 1920, Warren G. Harding rewarded Hoover for his support, offering to appoint him as either [[United States Secretary of the Interior |Secretary of the Interior]] or [[United States Secretary of Commerce|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.<ref>{{cite book|first = William E.|last = Leuchtenburg|title =Herbert Hoover|pages = 51–52|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7bXY94wxD2EC&pg=PA51|year= 2009|publisher = Henry Holt and Company|isbn = 9781429933490}}</ref>

Hoover envisioned the Commerce Department as the hub of the nation's growth and stability.<ref name="Leuchtenburg, pp 53-63">Leuchtenburg, ''Herbert Hoover'' pp. 53–63.</ref>  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.<ref>Kenneth Whyte, ''Hoover'' (2017) pp. 254–57.</ref>  Hoover sought to foster a balance among labor, capital, and the government, and for this he has been variously labeled a "[[corporatism|corporatist]]" or an [[associationalism|associationalist]].<ref>Martin L. Fausold, ''The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover'' (1985 p. 106.</ref>

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".<ref name="Leuchtenburg, pp 53-63"/>  In response to the [[Depression of 1920–21]], he convinced Harding to assemble a presidential commission on unemployment, which encouraged local governments to engage in countercyclical infrastructure spending.  He endorsed much of Mellon's tax reduction program, but favored a more [[progressive tax]] system and opposed the treasury secretary's efforts to eliminate the [[estate tax in the United States|estate tax]].<ref>Whyte, ''Hoover'' (2017) pp. 260–64, 303–04.</ref>

====Radio and travel====
[[File:HerbertClarkHoover.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Herbert Hoover listening to a [[radio receiver]]]]

When Hoover joined the department, almost no families had radios; when he became president in 1929, 10 million owned one, and most of the rest listened in a nearby home, store or restaurant. Hoover's department set the policies that shaped the entire new industry.  Hoover's radio conferences played a key role in the organization, development, and regulation of radio broadcasting. Hoover also helped pass the [[Radio Act of 1927]], which allowed the government to intervene and abolish radio stations that were deemed "non-useful" to the public. Hoover's attempts at regulating radio were not supported by all congressmen, and he received much opposition from the Senate and from radio station owners.
<ref>C. M. Jansky Jr, "The contribution of Herbert Hoover to broadcasting". ''Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media'' 1.3 (1957): 241–49.</ref><ref>Louise Benjamin, "Working it out together: Radio policy from Hoover to the Radio Act of 1927". ''Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media'' 42.2 (1998): 221–36.</ref><ref>Mark Goodman, and Mark Gring. "[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark_Gring/publication/236816005_The_Radio_Act_of_1927_Progressive_Ideology_Epistemology_and_Praxis/links/5663a34008ae192bbf8ef2c3.pdf The Radio Act of 1927: progressive ideology, epistemology, and praxis]". ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 3.3 (2000): 397–418. {{doi|10.1353/rap.2010.0055}}.</ref>

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 [[Aerial application|crop dusting]].{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=53–54}} He also established the federal government's power to inspect planes and license pilots, setting a precedent for the later [[Federal Aviation Administration]].{{sfn|Whyte 2017|p=271}}

As Commerce Secretary, Hoover hosted national conferences on street traffic collectively known as the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety. Hoover's chief objective was to address the growing casualty toll of traffic accidents, but the scope of the conferences grew and soon embraced motor vehicle standards, rules of the road, and urban traffic control. He left the invited interest groups to negotiate agreements among themselves, which were then presented for adoption by states and localities. Because automotive trade associations were the best organized, many of the positions taken by the conferences reflected their interests. The conferences issued a model Uniform Vehicle Code for adoption by the states, and a Model Municipal Traffic Ordinance for adoption by cities. Both were widely influential, promoting greater uniformity between jurisdictions and tending to promote the automobile's priority in city streets.<ref>Peter D. Norton, ''Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City'' (MIT Press, 2008), pp. 178–97 {{ISBN|0-262-14100-0}}</ref>

====Other Hoover initiatives====
[[File:Hoover and Harding at baseball game.jpg|thumb|Hoover (left) with President Harding at a baseball game, 1921]]

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.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=257–200}}{{page?|date=February 2020}} 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.<ref>David M. Hart, "Herbert Hoover's Last Laugh: the Enduring Significance of the 'Associative State' in the United States", ''Journal of Policy History'' (1998),  10#4: 419–44,</ref>

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 association|savings and loan]] industry to promote the new long-term home mortgage, which dramatically stimulated home construction.<ref>{{Citation | last = Hutchison | first = Janet | title = Building for Babbitt: the State and the Suburban Home Ideal | journal = Journal of Policy History | year = 1997 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=184–210 |doi=10.1017/S0898030600005923 | s2cid = 155048376 }}</ref> 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.<ref>Whyte (2017) pp. 269–71.</ref>

===Foreign economic policy===
The department has always been involved in promoting international non-financial business.<ref>Bruce W. Jentleson and Thomas G. Paterson,  eds. ''Encyclopedia of US foreign relations.'' (1997) 1:293–95.</ref> It stations commercial attachés at embassies around the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koch |first1=Paul D. |last2=Rasche |first2=Robert H. |title=An Examination of the Commerce Department Leading-lndicator Approach |journal=Journal of Business & Economic Statistics |date=April 1988 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=167–187 |doi=10.1080/07350015.1988.10509652 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07350015.1988.10509652 |access-date=16 November 2024 |language=en |issn=0735-0015}}</ref> 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.<ref>Belay Seyoum, "Export Controls and International Business: A Study with Special Emphasis on Dual-Use Export Controls and Their Impact on Firms in the US". ''Journal of Economic Issues'' 51.1 (2017): 45–72.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Yu Yongding]]. "Can China and the United States Avoid a Full-Blown Trade War?". ''US–China Economic Relations: From Conflict to Solutions'' (2019).</ref> On July 20, 2020, the commerce department announced adding eleven Chinese firms to an export blacklist for committing human rights abuse against [[Uyghurs|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/07/commerce-department-adds-eleven-chinese-entities-implicated-human|title=Commerce Department Adds Eleven Chinese Entities Implicated in Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang to the Entity List|access-date=20 July 2020|website=U.S. Department of Commerce |date=July 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721012800/https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/07/commerce-department-adds-eleven-chinese-entities-implicated-human|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 (Emirati company)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-technology-dubai-nevada-united-arab-emirates-0755b0ed4a9a750bcac432300ca69275 |date=October 15, 2020 |first1=Jon |last1=Gambrell |first2=Michelle L. |last2=Price |title=US warned Nevada not to use Chinese COVID tests from UAE|access-date=15 October 2020|website=AP News}}</ref>

==Current organization==

===Structure===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Program
|-
! rowspan="14" | [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]]<br />([[United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce|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
|-
| [[U.S. Commerce Department Office of Security|Office of Security]]
|-
| [[Office of Space Commerce]]
|-
| Office of White House Liaison
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs]]
| [[Bureau of the Census]]
|-
| [[Bureau of Economic Analysis]]
|-
| [[Economics and Statistics Administration]]
|-
! 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]]
| [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|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]]
|}

===Budget and finances===
The Department of Commerce was authorized a budget for [[2015 United States federal budget|Fiscal Year 2015]] of $14.6 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:<ref>"[http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY15BiB/EntireBiB2_508.pdf The Department of Commerce Budget in Brief Fiscal Year 2015]", United States Department of Commerce, accessed July 16, 2015.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Program
!Funding <br /> (in millions)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor=#808080 | '''Management and Finance'''
|-
|Departmental Management
|$73.2
|-
|Office of the Inspector General
|$35.5
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor=#808080 | '''Operating Divisions'''
|-
|Economic Development Administration
|$248.1
|-
|Census Bureau
|$1,240.0
|-
|Bureau of Economic Analysis
|$111.0
|-
|International Trade and Investment Administration
|$497.3
|-
|Bureau of Industry and Security
|$110.5
|-
|Minority Business Development Agency
|$28.3
|-
|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|$5,684.7
|-
|Patent and Trademark Office
|$3,439.5
|-
|National Institute of Standards and Technology
|$904.9
|-
|National Telecommunications and Information Administration
|$51
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor=#808080 | '''Mandatory Spending'''
|-
|Public Safety Broadband Network
|$2,275
|-
|'''TOTAL'''
|'''$14,565'''
|}

==Reorganization proposals==

{{Update|section|date=March 2018}}

Proposals to reorganize the department go back many decades.<ref name="Commerce Dept 1995"/> The Department of Commerce was one of three departments that Texas governor [[Rick Perry]] [[Republican Party presidential debates, 2012#November 9, 2011 – Auburn Hills, Michigan|advocated eliminating]] during his [[Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012|2012 presidential campaign]], along with the [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]] and [[United States Department of Energy|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 [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]], [[United States Department of Labor|Department of Labor]], and [[United States Department of the Treasury|Department of the Treasury]]. The [[Economic Development Administration]] would be completely eliminated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uproot and Overhaul Washington: Eliminate and Restructure Wasteful Federal Agencies|url=http://www.rickperry.org/uproot-and-overhaul-washington-html/#eliminate|publisher=Rick Perry |access-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119232824/http://www.rickperry.org/uproot-and-overhaul-washington-html/#eliminate |archive-date=January 19, 2012 }}</ref>

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 of the United States|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 of the United States government|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.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news|last=MacInnis|first=Laura|title=Obama wants export agency, closing of Commerce Department|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-reform-idUSTRE80C0SA20120113|access-date=January 19, 2012|newspaper=Reuters|date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202002343/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-reform-idUSTRE80C0SA20120113 |archive-date= Feb 2, 2016 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mervis|first=Jeffrey|title=What Would Wiping Out the Commerce Department Mean for Science?|url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/what-would-wiping-out-the-commerce.html|work=ScienceInsider|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=January 19, 2012|date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129144352/http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/what-would-wiping-out-the-commerce.html |archive-date= Jan 29, 2012 }}</ref> Later that year, shortly before the 2012 presidential election, Obama invoked the idea of a "secretary of business" in reference to the plan.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schroeder|first=Peter|title=Obama floats plan for a 'secretary of Business' if he wins second term|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/132971-obama-floats-plan-for-a-secretary-of-business-if-he-wins-second-term/|newspaper=The Hill|access-date=May 23, 2014|date=October 29, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524024443/http://thehill.com/policy/finance/264587-obama-calls-for-a-secretary-of-business |archive-date= May 24, 2014 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Landler|first=Mark|title=Obama Bid to Cut the Government Tests Congress|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/us/politics/obama-to-ask-congress-for-power-to-merge-agencies.html|access-date=January 19, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 14, 2012|author2=Lowrey, Annie|page=A1 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Reuters"/><ref name="Bartlett"/> The overall plan has also been criticized as an attempt to create an agency similar to Japan's powerful [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry]], which was abolished in 2001 after some of its initiatives failed and it became seen as a hindrance to growth.<ref name="Bartlett">{{cite web|last=Bartlett|first=Bruce|title=The Pros and Cons of Obama's Reorganization Plan|url=https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/the-pros-and-cons-of-obamas-reorganization-plan/|series=Economix|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2012|date=January 17, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120023109/https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/the-pros-and-cons-of-obamas-reorganization-plan/ |archive-date= Jan 20, 2012 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Malakoff|first=David|title=Rough Sailing for Plan to Move NOAA?|url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/rough-sailing-for-plan-to-move.html|work=ScienceInsider|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=January 19, 2012|date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> The plan was reiterated in the Obama administration's [[2016 United States federal budget|FY2016 budget proposal]] that was released in February 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hicks|first1=Josh|title=Six ways the White House budget would affect federal workers|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/02/03/six-ways-the-white-house-budget-would-affect-federal-workers/|access-date=February 3, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 3, 2015}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|Politics}}
* [[Bureau of Industry and Security]]
* [[Commerce Department trade mission controversy]]
* [[Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations]]
* [[Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations]]
* [[Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations]]
* [[USA.gov]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Brandes, Joseph. ''Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy: Department of Commerce Policy, 1921–1928.'' (U of Pittsburgh Press, 1970).
* Clements, Kendrick A.''The Life of Herbert Hoover'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) pp.&nbsp;209–38.
* Cohen, Stephen D., and Stephen David Cohen. ''The making of United States international economic policy: principles, problems, and proposals for reform'' (Greenwood, 2000).
* Hawley, Ellis. "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State', 1921–1928". ''Journal of American History'', (June 1974) 61#1 : 116–40 [http://www.trinityhistory.org/AmH/Hawley-Hoover.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110012508/http://www.trinityhistory.org/AmH/Hawley-Hoover.pdf |date=January 10, 2021 }}
* Lee, David D. "Herbert Hoover and the Development of Commercial Aviation, 1921–1926". ''Business History Review'' 58.1 (1984): 78–102.
* Seely, Bruce E. "Engineers and Government–Business Cooperation: Highway Standards and the Bureau of Public Roads, 1900–1940". ''Business History Review'' 58.1 (1984): 51–77.
* Weems, Robert E., and Lewis A. Randolph. {{"'}}The Right Man': James A. Jackson and the Origins of US Government Interest in Black Business". ''Enterprise & Society'' 6.2 (2005): 254–77.

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{EB1922 Poster|Commerce, Department of|Department of Commerce}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/department-of-commerce Department of Commerce] on [[Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006|USAspending.gov]]
* [https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/commerce-department Department of Commerce] in the ''[[Federal Register]]''
* [https://www.gao.gov/agencies/department-commerce Department of Commerce] reports and recommendations from the [[Government Accountability Office]]
* [http://www.buyusa.gov US Commercial Service]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071017094732/http://www.buyusa.gov/uk/en/ Department of Commerce Representation in the UK]

{{United States Department of Commerce}}
{{United States federal executive departments}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Government agencies established in 1913]]
[[Category:United States federal executive departments|Commerce]]
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