U.S. President Barack Obama signed on Tuesday an executive order to establish a trade enforcement office to investigate unfair trade practices.

The office was known as the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC), which was established within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The panel's director will be designated by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, with a deputy selected by Commerce Secretary John Bryson, the White House said in a statement.

The office would be mainly supported by the Department of State, Treasury, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said the White House.

The agency would serve as the primary forum within the federal government for the USTR and other agencies to coordinate enforcement of U.S. trade rights under international trade agreements and enforcement of domestic trade laws.

Obama first expressed its intention to create the panel in his latest State of the Union address. The panel was expected to aid Obama's attempt to boost export growth and cut unemployment by doubling exports by 2015.