Daniel R. Pearson, Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), announced today that David B. Beck has been designated Director of the agency’s Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements (TATA).

Beck will oversee the maintenance and publication of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). This effort includes the coordination of Commission reports on tariff legislation, the preparation of Presidential proclamations implementing free trade agreements, chairing the Committee for Statistical Annotation of the Tariff Schedules (the “484(f) Committee”) and representing the Commission in the U.S. delegation to various committees of the World Customs Organization in Brussels and of the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

Beck joined the Commission’s Office of Industries (Chemicals Division) in 1974 and transferred to TATA in 1981. From 1987 through 1990, he was Chief of the Nomenclature Division in TATA, where he supervised the compilation of the HTS commodity chapters. He served as Acting Deputy Director of the office from 1991 through 1993. From 1994 through 1998, he worked under contract as a Senior Technical Officer at the World Customs Organization in Brussels. After his return to the ITC in 1999, he served for four years as Chairman of the WCO’s HS Review Sub-Committee, and he is currently serving his third year as Chairman of the Harmonized System Committee. He has been Acting Director of TATA since January 2005.

Beck holds a Master of Business Administration degree from George Mason University and a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He and his wife currently reside in Vienna, Virginia.

The ITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. ITC analysts and economists investigate and publish reports on U.S. industries and the global trends that affect them. The agency also maintains and publishes the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.