SAM #18163eb4399e4eba8d9c47a4f5968f14

Sole Source Estimation Procedure Services for USITC ITPD-S Dataset

This notice announces the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) intent to award a sole source contract for specialized estimation procedure services. - Sole source contract will be awarded to Mario Larch, Bayreuth, Germany - Larch is the original developer of the International Trade and Production Database for Simulation (ITPD-S) - Has prior experience performing similar work for USITC - Services required: - Develop an updated, more efficient estimation procedure for the ITPD-S dataset - Address inefficiencies and manual intervention in current estimation code - No competitive quotations will be solicited; informational notice only - No products or part numbers specified; this is a service requirement - Period of performance is one year, from July 10, 2026 to July 9, 2027 - Opportunity is relevant for experts in trade data analysis and computational economics

Description

NOTICE TYPE:  SPECIAL NOTICE

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE  –  Mario Larch

NAICS Code      541690 – Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services

PSC                       R499 – Support – Professional: Other

The U. S. International Trade Commission (USITC or Commission) anticipates award of a Purchase Order on a sole source basis to Mario Larch, SUTTNERSTR. 4, Bayreuth, Germany, under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

This requirement is for services to develop an estimation procedure for the Commission's ITPD-S dataset. Mario Larch is the original developer of the ITPD-S, performed as work for the Commission under contract no. 34300022P0020. As such, he has unique knowledge about the database and what techniques may be used to increase efficiency when updating it. He also has experience creating procedures for estimation processes with the Commission (see contract no 34300025P0032). Using any one other than Larch could cause delays and increased costs for the Commission.

The International Trade and Production Database for Simulation (ITPD-S) is a popular resource inside and outside the Commission. The latest release of the database includes international and domestic trade for 170 industries covering all sectors of the economy in 266 countries for the years 1986-2023. The key feature of the ITPD-S is that it provides estimates for nearly all missing domestic trade values, over a million observations, which makes it ideal for use in simulation models, such as those that estimate the impact of trade policy changes. The challenge of producing ITPD-S is that it is very computationally intensive. The current code to estimate ITPD-S is written in Stata, which is not the most efficient language, and has not been updated since 2021. The code takes weeks to complete and requires constant human intervention. Therefore, this contract is essential to produce quantitative analysis to comply with the Commission’s statutory obligations under 19 U.S.C. 1332(g).

The period of performance:

July 10, 2026 to July 9, 2027

This notice is not a request for competitive quotations.  A Request for Quote will not be available for this requirement.  The intent of this solicitation is for informational purposes only.  However, any information received within five days after the date of publication of this notice will be considered by the Government. Information in response to this notice may be sent to Meaghann Peak, Contracting Officer, at meaghann.peak@usitc.gov.  A determination by the Government not to compete this action is solely within the discretion of the Government.  Telephonic questions or requests are strongly discouraged.  

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