President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy released Dec. 18 firmly links trade with overall U.S. strength, as the 55-page document repeatedly commits to combat unfair trade practices and pledges that the U.S. will work to improve the performance of multilateral organizations. The U.S. will “continue to play a leading role” in institutions including the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, but will push “reforms” to boost their effectiveness, including pressing to make WTO dispute settlement more efficient, the strategy says. The document refers to U.S. “trade imbalances” several times, and insists trading partners and multilateral organizations can “do more” to address them and “adhere to and enforce the rules” of the international order. Finally, the document says new and updated bilateral trade and investment agreements are a priority for countries exhibiting “fair and reciprocal” trade.

President Donald Trump on Dec. 8 signed stopgap legislation to keep the federal government funded and open through Dec. 22. Congressional Democrats and Republicans, and Trump, are negotiating whether certain provisions should be added to a longer-term funding bill, including more hurricane disaster aid for Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

President Donald Trump on Dec. 8, issued a memo to Small Business Administration Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy Major Clark directing the delay of a required report submission to Congress on NAFTA’s small business impacts. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act generally requires the executive branch to submit to Congress a report on the economic impacts of a covered trade agreement no less than 180 days after a TFTEA-required interagency working group for that trade agreement is convened. However, TFTEA also allows the delay of the report’s submission until after negotiations are concluded, but no later than 45 days before the Senate or House “acts to approve or disapprove the trade agreement,” the memo says.

The U.S. has started admitting star apples from Vietnam, and Vietnam has started accepting dried grains from the U.S., according to a Nov. 12 joint statement issued after President Donald Trump’s visit to the country. Trump and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang “pledged to deepen and expand the bilateral trade and investment relationship between the United States and Vietnam through formal mechanisms, including the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA),” the statement says. “They welcomed the return of market access for United States distillers dried grains into the Vietnamese market and new access for Vietnamese star apples into the United States market.”

The U.S. and the Philippines will discuss the possibility of a bilateral free trade agreement during U.S.-Philippines Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) discussions, the two countries said in a Nov. 13 joint statement after President Donald Trump visited the Pacific island nation. “The United States welcomed the Philippines’ interest in a bilateral free trade agreement and both sides agreed to discuss the matter further through the United States-Philippines TIFA,” the statement says. TIFA talks continue to progress on areas including customs, labor, intellectual property and market access for agricultural products, the statement says.

Speaking alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump during at least three different occasions in Beijing on Nov. 9 suggested the U.S. has an unfair trade relationship with China and pledged to make it more reciprocal. “Both the United States and China will have a more prosperous future if we can achieve a level economic playing field. Right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair one. But I don't blame China,” Trump said during a business event with Xi, drawing applause from the crowd, according to a White House transcript of the speech. “After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.” Before an expanded bilateral meeting with Xi, Trump said he has “great respect” for China getting ahead of the U.S. on trade, “because you’re representing China,” but added that it’s “too bad” past U.S. administrations “allowed it to get so far out of kilter.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said during a joint press conference with President Donald Trump Nov. 7, that the leaders “agreed to have the relevant authorities expedite” ongoing U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) consultations. Trump said he’s “confident” the two nations will reach a “free, fair, and reciprocal trade deal” through those talks, but also criticized outcomes of the current deal. “I would like to thank President Moon for instructing his trade negotiators to work closely with us to quickly pursue a much better deal -- a deal that, frankly, has been quite unsuccessful and not very good for the United States,” Trump said. South Korean trade officials agreed to work with the U.S. in resolving implementation issues and discussing potential modifications to KORUS last month (see 1710060012). Trump also mentioned that the U.S. has approved some South Korean orders for “billions of dollars’ worth” of military equipment, with more to come, which should help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with the nation and increase U.S. jobs, Trump said. Additionally, Moon appeared to link the two countries’ trade and defense relationships, mentioning that South Korea demonstrated “huge contributions to the KORUS alliance” during Trump’s visit to a U.S. military base iin the country.

The U.S. trade balance continued to be a focus for President Donald Trump during his trip to Japan, as Trump during a Nov. 6 press conference said the U.S. seeks “equal and reliable” access for exports to Japan, “in order to eliminate our chronic trade imbalances and deficits with Japan.” The U.S. had a $4.8 billion goods trade deficit with Japan in September, the most recent month for which Census Bureau trade data is available. “We're working on that -- something we've all been working on very hard from the very beginning of our meetings,” Trump said. During the press conference in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country and the U.S. intend to create a “fair and effective” economic order in the Pacific region, and touted Japanese investment in the U.S. as a contributor to recent U.S. job growth.

President Donald Trump on Nov. 2 sent the nomination of Jeffrey Kessler to be assistant secretary of commerce for enforcement and compliance to the Senate as planned (see 1711010009), the White House announced. If confirmed, Kessler would oversee enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duties and help ensure foreign compliance with trade agreements.

The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis recommends the executive branch and Congress use advance electronic data on foreign mail shipments from high-risk areas to identify illicit opioid suppliers and domestic distributors, according to a report released by the commission Nov. 1. Already required for express shipments, such data includes sender and receipt names and addresses, shipment contents and quantity.