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The Office of the Special Trade Representative was created by Congress in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C.A. § 1801) and implemented by President JOHN F. KENNEDY in EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 11,075 on January 15, 1963 (27 FR 473). This agency was authorized to negotiate all trade agreements under the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.A. § 1351) and the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. As part of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.A. § 2171), Congress established the office as a cabinet-level agency within the Executive Office of the President and gave it other powers and responsibilities for coordinating trade policy.

In 1980 the Office of the Special Trade Representative was renamed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). USTR refers both to the agency and to the agency's head, the...