President Barack Obama signed into law on Sept. 30 a “clean” continuing resolution, an amendment to HR-719 (here), only hours before federal government funding was set to lapse on Sept. 30 at midnight. The stopgap measure keeps fiscal year 2015 funding in place through Dec. 11. The Senate decisively passed the bill on Sept. 30 in the morning (see 1509300021), and the House followed suit later in the day.

The U.S. and China agreed to a range of trade-related commitments following Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to the U.S. over recent days, the White House said. The two countries will “enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export, including significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and to take significant and timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade of ivory,” said the White House in a memo (here), which said the U.S. and China will collaborate to meet that goal through training, information sharing and other methods. The two countries also agreed to “improve approval processes” for agricultural biotechnology products, the White House said in a separate release. Xi’s visit spurred an outcry among lawmakers over sluggish Chinese approvals for U.S. exports (see 1509180010). China and the U.S. pledged, as well, to strengthen intellectual property rights and combat trade secrets theft.

President Barack Obama expressed confidence that Congress will ultimately dismantle the Cuban trade embargo in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 28. The embargo “should not be in place anymore,” said Obama. “Change won’t come overnight to Cuba, but I’m confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and better the life the Cuban people deserve, just as I believe that Cuba will find its success,” he said. The Obama administration recently unveiled new measures to ease trade and financial ties with Cuba.

The U.S. should take advantage of a series of meetings with Indian officials to pressure the country to break down its barriers to foreign investment, said the Alliance for Fair Trade with India in a Sept. 22 letter (here) to President Barack Obama. The letter urged Obama to tackle Indian investment barriers during his tentatively-planned Sept. 28 meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India must begin to put in place policies that provide legal and regulatory certainty for U.S. companies seeking to invest in the market,” said the letter. “Imposing barriers like forced localization measures, excessively high tariffs, and unnecessary regulations discourage globally competitive U.S. industries from participating fully in India's economy, which would enable these sectors to spur domestic growth.” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman met with the Indian Commerce Minister in recent days (see 1509210011). Lawmakers spelled out a range of problematic Indian trade barriers to Obama administration officials in the lead-up to U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue on Sept. 22 in Washington (see 1509240029).

The top trade officials from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries will likely meet "sometime in the next several weeks" to hammer out the final outstanding issues in the pact, President Barack Obama told an audience at the Business Roundtable on Sept. 16. A conclusion to the talks could come by the end of the year, Obama said. "They have the opportunity to close the deal. Most chapters have been completed at this point," he said. The 12 negotiating partners failed to lock down a deal in Maui at the end of July, but advocates touted significant progress (see 1508100011).

President Barack Obama reiterated his commitment to close Trans-Pacific Partnership talks on a Sept. 16 call with newly-minted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turbull, the White House said. Members of the Australian Liberal Party elected parliamentarian Turnbull on Sept. 14 to take over as the Australian prime minister, in a move that puts Tony Abbott, a staunch TPP proponent, out of office. The election could pave the way for a sweeping cabinet reshuffle, said Australian media (here). Trade Minister Andrew Robb has been a central figure in the drive to close TPP negotiations (see 1503180062). Turnbull recently touted the merits of free trade agreements and called for China's inclusion in TPP (here).

The White House directed the Treasury Department on Sept. 11 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 several months, but administration officials emphasize the vast majority of bilateral trade is still prohibited (see 1509100020). The authority to administer sanctions on Cuba expired on Sept. 14, the White House said.

The White House is asking for industry comments to help craft the next iteration of its Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement (here). The plan, which is administered by the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, aims to put in place the mechanisms to combat fraudulent goods and other intellectual property infringement, while also assisting other countries in cracking down on illegal operations, the White House said in a Sept. 1 Federal Register notice. Through the plan, the U.S. aims to prioritize U.S. resources for "countries where programs can be carried out most effectively with the greatest impact on reducing the number of infringing products imported into the United States, while also protecting the intellectual property rights of U.S. rights holders and the interests of U.S. persons otherwise harmed by infringements in other countries," said the notice. Following two previous three-year versions, this plan will last from 2016-19. The notice requests “input and recommendations” on the broad effort to crack down on IP infringement, including through legislation, presidential action and regulatory changes, “as well as ideas for improving any of the existing voluntary private-sector initiatives and for establishing new voluntary private-sector initiatives.”

The U.S. and Japan are committed to concluding Trans-Pacific Partnership talks "as soon as possible," the White House said in a statement following an Aug. 25 call between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Obama and Abe covered a wide range of bilateral issues, the statement said. The top Japanese TPP negotiator recently criticized U.S. efforts to close the pact after the Maui ministerial in late July (see 1508120021).

Foreign export credit agencies, such as those in China, the UK and Canada, are ramping up activities after the U.S. Congress allowed the Export-Import Bank to expire in late June, said John Murphy, senior vice president for international policy at the Chamber of Commerce, in an Aug. 24 blog (here). “We live in a world where official export credit agencies are major players in international commerce,” he said. “And that isn't changing: Governments are doubling down on their ECAs.” The White House also urged action on Ex-Im. Congress needs to “take the long-overdue step of reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank…in a timely fashion,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Aug. 24. U.S. business associations, the White House and many Capitol Hill lawmakes have railed against the lapse in Ex-Im authorization (see 1507280017). Lawmakers return to Washington the second week of September.