By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday said it had canceled an ongoing multi-year investigation into the impact of trade policy on under-served communities and workers at the request of the Trump administration.
The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan federal agency told witnesses that it was canceling a hearing on the racial and diversity impacts of trade on Wednesday after the U.S. Trade Representative’s office withdrew its request for the broader study. A copy of the email was seen by Reuters.
The agency had planned a total of six virtual hearings on the issue, including separate sessions on persistent poverty in rural areas and urban areas, and had planned in-person conversations in five U.S. cities from March to May.
The ITC and White House did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump has ended all federal work on diversity, equity and inclusion programs with a series of executive orders and memorandums.
Katherine Tai, who served as U.S. Trade Representative under former President Joe Biden, first requested the probe in January 2023, and the agency was slated to complete its report by January 2026.
Arthur Stamoulis, with the Citizens Trade Campaign, which worked to oppose the original North American Free Trade Agreement 30 years ago, said the decision to halt the probe was disappointing but not surprising, given other decisions made by the Trump administration since taking office.
The study was intended to analyze how job losses caused by off-shoring and other supply chain decisions were disproportionately borne by people of color, important information for policymakers, he said.
“Thus far, we have not seen the Trump administration putting workers first and its trade policy is being used to push a really hateful anti-immigrant agenda,” he said.
Trump officials have argued that DEI initiatives waste money and often discriminate against white people.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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