The Latest News

 Department of Commerce Kicks Off New Job Quality Initiative to Help Ensure that Economic Recovery is Built on Quality Jobs

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Don Graves hosted the convening of national experts to officially launch the Department of Commerce’s new Job Quality Initiative. The initiative is aimed at ultimately helping American employers become more competitive by providing their workers with high quality jobs.

U.S.-EU Establish Common Principles to Update the Rules for the 21st Century Economy at Inaugural Trade and Technology Council Meeting

Launched by President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel at the U.S.-EU Summit in June 2021, the Trade and Technology Council held its inaugural meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 29, 2021. U.S. Co-Chairs, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, were joined by EU Co-Chairs European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis to establish common principles to update the rules of the road for a 21st century economy and deliver for our people.

Commerce Secretary Raimondo Stresses America’s Road to Recovery Runs Through Nation’s Minority Business Community at Annual MED Week Conference

On Monday, September 20, 2021, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo opened the Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) annual National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week conference. In her remarks, she stressed that minority business enterprises (MBE’s) are the engine of the American economy and that America’s Road to recovery runs through the Nation’s minority business community.

Deputy Secretary Graves Underscores Importance of Public, Private Sectors in Combating Climate Change During Trip to Poland

Between September 20-24, Deputy Secretary Don Graves joined Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm for the re-launch of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECC) Ministerial and Business Forum, an international platform that provides policymakers and civil society stakeholders across 22 European countries with resources and tools to build secure, resilient, climate-conscious energy systems.

U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Section 232 Investigation into the Effect of Imports of Neodymium Magnets on U.S. National Security

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has initiated an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1862), to determine the effects on U.S. national security from imports of Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets. Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or other information to BIS by November 12, 2021.

Commerce Department Awards $60 million in NOAA Education Grants to HBCUs to Increase Diversity in STEM Workforce

Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce, through its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has awarded grants of up to $30 million, over a five-year period, to two Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Florida A&M University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. These grants build up NOAA’s continuing long-term commitment to ensuring a future NOAA workforce that is representative of the nation’s population.