Unfair trade practices will be among the topics that President Donald Trump discusses at the upcoming G7 summit in Taormina, Italy, which will go on May 26-27, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during a May 12 press conference (here). “He will promote American economic leadership and also address unfair trade practices,” Spicer said.

Changes in the structure of manufacturing make it difficult to tie products to a single country of origin and design government policies that support U.S. manufacturing, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report (here). The report, which also outlines various agencies' interpretations of "Made in the U.S.A.," mentions President Donald Trump’s April 18 executive order instructing agencies to ensure federal grants and procurement maximize the use of manufactured goods produced in the U.S. (see 1704180021). Physical transformation of goods is increasingly performed by workers not classified as manufacturing workers, and a growing proportion of workers whose jobs are related to manufacturing work in sectors not directly involved in physical transformation, such as business services, software development and after-sales service, the report says.

President Donald Trump on May 5 signed fiscal year 2017 omnibus legislation that will fund the federal government through Sept. 30 and avoid a shutdown, the White House said. The Senate and House this week both passed the compromise bill, which will also require CBP to brief Congress on ACE development efforts within 90 days of enactment (see 1705010037).

The Trump administration seems likely to ramp up trade enforcement efforts on China when it has more staff about a year from now, American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Derek Scissors said during a May 3 event hosted by Kelley Drye on the first 100 days of the administration. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping essentially punted on substantively addressing bilateral trade issues during their early April meeting the U.S.’s and China’s “100-day plan” (see 1704100008) reached during that meeting is more spectacle than substance, he said. But said the U.S. could increasingly press China on issues including intellectual property rights protection as the Trump administration will be facing more political pressure to act in 2018.

President Donald Trump issued executive orders to address violations and abuses of U.S. free trade agreements (here) and to create the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy (here) on April 29. The FTA executive order tasks Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the U.S. trade representative with submitting performance reviews of all trade agreements to which the U.S. is a party. The order also directs examinations of all trade relations with World Trade Organization members with which the U.S. doesn’t have FTAs but has significant trade deficits in goods. Every performance review will cover “violations or abuses” of any U.S. FTA, investment agreement, “WTO rule governing any trade relation under the WTO,” or trade preference program hurting U.S. workers. The order also instructs the reviews to document any “unfair treatment by trade and investment partners” having similar effects.

President Donald Trump sent to the Senate the nomination of Mira Ricardel to serve as under secretary of commerce for export administration, the lead position at the Bureau of Industry and Security, the White House said April 28. Ricardel currently serves as special assistant to the president and associate director for presidential personnel, and worked at Boeing before that.

President Donald Trump may terminate the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), he told The Washington Post in an interview (here). Next week will mark an anniversary for the pact, and will trigger a review period allowing a renegotiation or ratification of a new version of the agreement. Trump told the South Koreans that the U.S. will either “terminate or negotiate,” he said in the interview. Trump referred to the deal as a “one-way street” and a “horrible deal.” The U.S. ran a $27.7 billion trade deficit with South Korea in 2016, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here). During a visit to Seoul last week, Vice President Mike Pence noted that the U.S. is reviewing all existing trade agreements (see 1704180002). Trump also mentioned that terminating KORUS can be immediate pursuant to the deal, whereas withdrawing from NAFTA would require six months’ notice.

President Donald Trump and Argentine President Mauricio Macri directed their Cabinets to speedily outline a path forward in resolving pending bilateral agricultural issues, “based on scientific principles and international standards,” the leaders said in a joint statement (here). Trump and Macri met in Washington April 27, committing to expand trade and investment between the U.S. and Argentina, including in agricultural and industrial products, the White House said.

President Donald Trump signed a memo on April 27 that outlines the Commerce Department’s Section 232 investigation into aluminum imports (here), which started the day before (see 1704270024). The memo orders the investigation to take into account how the quantities, availability, character and use of those imports affect the U.S.’s ability to meet national security requirements, noting the close relationship between the nation’s economic welfare and national security. Should the investigation find that aluminum imports are threatening or impairing national security, the report must recommend actions and steps to adjust imports so they won’t have that impact, the memo said.

President Donald Trump is considering signing an executive order proclaiming the U.S.’s intent to withdraw from NAFTA, but he hasn’t decided what course to take, according to a report by CNN (here). The order could bring about a renegotiation of the pact, not an outright U.S. withdrawal, CNN reported. Politico reported (here) that the White House may reveal the order late this week or early next week. That story also said that National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon drafted the order, which was submitted this week to the White House staff secretary for final stages of review. The White House didn’t comment.