President Barack Obama met with a group of business and political leaders Sept. 15 to strategize how to effectively spread their message of support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and ensure a congressional vote on the pact this year. During a same-day White House press conference, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said that the TPP would help secure U.S. leadership among world powers marked by a repressive China and an unpredictable Russia, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said that it would help boost U.S. manufacturing interests in communities across the U.S. Kasich said that while trade brings economic benefits, it also inevitably hurts some workers. That’s why the U.S. should pursue good trade adjustment programs and streamline all levels of U.S. education for innovation, he said.
The White House directed the Treasury Department on Sept. 13 to extend the Cuban Assets Control Regulations for another year (here). Those regulations (here), which fall within the controls outlined in the Trading with the Enemy Act, cover nearly all dealings with Cuba. The Obama administration has taken a number of steps to normalize ties with the country over the past few years (see 1608050001). The authority to administer sanctions on Cuba was set to expire on Sept. 14, the White House said.
President Barack Obama is adding Myanmar as a least developed beneficiary developing country to the list of Generalized System of Preferences beneficiaries after a roughly 27-year absence from the program, he said in a proclamation to Congress (here). Harmonized Tariff Schedule General Notes 4(a) and 4(b)(i) will be modified to list “Burma.” Modifications to the HTS will take effect and apply to goods withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption or entered on or after Nov. 13, according to the proclamation. The announcement aligns with Obama’s meeting scheduled with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in the Oval Office Sept. 14. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative started reviews to consider Myanmar’s GSP eligibility in April 2013, after the nation’s qualification for the program was withdrawn in 1989 because of worker rights violations (see 13041521). A joint statement on the U.S.-Myanmar relationship said the Asian country has strengthened its protections for "internationally recognized worker rights."
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of five priorities White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Sept. 7 said President Barack Obama hopes Congress will act on during the remainder of this year (here). “Obviously, we'd like to see some progress on the President's Supreme Court nominee and on TPP as well,” Earnest said in response to a question about what assurances House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has given the White House for action it will take up for the rest of 2016. “So there's a long to-do list for members of Congress who have been gone for a while now. And hopefully they'll get after it.” During the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos, Obama reiterated at a press conference (here) that he plans to work as hard as he can to push Congress to approve TPP before he leaves office.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest indicated that the Obama administration hasn't given up on 2016 congressional approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite a recent remark from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that Congress won’t deliberate a vote on the trade deal in 2016 (see 1608260022). The president plans to make the case during the upcoming G-20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou, China, that U.S. ratification is still possible this year (here), Earnest said. "I think there is a reservoir of support across the country that we can draw from, but there has long been historic opposition to these kind of trade agreements, certainly from the Democratic Party, but among some elements from the Republican Party, too," Earnest said during an Aug. 29 press briefing. "And so the president is going to make a strong case that we have made progress, and that there is a path for us to get this done before the president leaves office."
President Barack Obama will visit China and Laos Sept. 2-9, where he will participate in the G-20 Leaders’ Summit and the U.S.-ASEAN and East Asia summits, respectively, the White House said (here). Obama is expected to advocate “opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the world’s fastest-growing markets,” including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the White House said. Notably, G-20 trade ministers in July agreed to finalize a compromise framework for implementation of the World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) before the top officials from those countries convene in Hangzhou next month (see 1607110018). The group is working to conclude the EGA this year.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Aug. 11 said that, if elected, she would oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership in office, as she does now, and pledged to stop “any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages,” including TPP (here). In prepared remarks for a speech on the economy at an automotive and defense manufacturing facility in Warren, Mich., Clinton also said she plans to appoint the first-ever U.S. chief trade prosecutor, triple the number of trade enforcement officers, and assess “targeted” tariffs in response to evasive or unfair trade practices by other nations. She also called out her political competitor Donald Trump for talking “a big game” on trade and about putting the U.S. first in trade deals, after Trump sourced some of his signature apparel products from China and Mexico. Clinton said that Trump’s approach to trade is based “on fear, not strength.” Trump’s campaign didn’t comment.
President Barack Obama designated David Johanson vice chair of the International Trade Commission for a term to expire June 16, 2018, according to a White House announcement (here). Johanson has served as a commissioner since Dec. 8, 2011, and that term will expire Dec. 16, 2018.
More than 100 industry organizations, ranging from broker associations to textile manufacturers, directly appealed to President Barack Obama to reconsider his decision to defer approval of duty benefits for 27 travel goods imported from many countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (here). In a letter signed by groups including the Express Association of America, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association and the Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders, companies and industry associations called on Obama to decide to apply duty-free approvals for the goods “definitely no later” than Oct. 1, to boost development before GSP expires at the end of 2017. “Deferring a decision to make eligible all GSP countries for travel goods, which include backpacks, purses, suitcases, and laptop cases, creates business uncertainty and delays the investment that will create and support jobs in developing countries as well as jobs here at home," the letter said.
President Barack Obama on Aug. 4 extended the Commerce Department’s authority to control U.S. exports under the Export Administration Regulations through Aug. 17, 2017 (here). The move extends a national emergency associated with the expiration of the Export Administration Act, which initially lapsed in 1994 and has since been renewed annually through executive action. Former President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13222 to declare the national emergency, and the Aug. 4 executive action affirms that the emergency still exists.