President Barack Obama signed into law on June 29 the Trade Preferences Extension Act and the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, the most recent version of Trade Promotion Authority. The preference package includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, two Haiti tariff preference levels, Trade Adjustment Assistance and a host of new tariff changes (see 1504230001). Republican leadership in Congress praised the passage of TPA as a critical step in locking down the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade pacts. "This measure will strengthen the hand of U.S. negotiators, allowing them to secure the best deal for American workers while maintaining new, rigorous standards of transparency and accountability," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in a statement.

President Barack Obama hailed recent Congressional action on trade legislation in remarks on June 25, following a critical House vote that capped months of intense Capitol Hill wrangling on trade. The House overwhelmingly supported the package, which includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Trade Adjustment Assistance. “This week's votes represent a much-needed win for hardworking American families,” said Obama. “I look forward to signing these bipartisan bills into law as soon as they reach my desk.” Many trade supporters expect the U.S. to now step up focus on closing Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. Obama didn’t mention the 12-nation pact directly, but said TPA will help the U.S. “write the rules of our global economy.” Lawmakers now are likely to head to conference over Customs Reauthorization, but that bill is now legislatively disconnected from TPA and the trade package.

The efficiency gains made through the International Trade Data System (ITDS) may be limited by port congestion issues unless quickly addressed, said Nathaniel Loewentheil, a policy advisor with the White House National Economic Council. Loewentheil discussed the issue during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness on June 23. While the implementation of ITDS in December 2016 will streamline the importing and exporting processes, the system won't be as effective unless these problems at the ports are addressed first, he said. Loewentheil discussed solutions to port congestion and inadequate infrastructure, and how far the federal budget will stretch to fund these changes, during the meeting.

The industrial countries that make up the G-7 pledged on June 8 to “immediately accelerate” Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks with the “goal of finalizing understandings on the outline of an agreement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year." The G-7 is comprised of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Germany hosted the summit in Schloss Elmau and a joint statement (here) said the next G-7 summit will be held in Japan in 2016.

The White House lashed into House legislation to appropriate funds for the Commerce Department in a June 1 statement, arguing the bill would underfund the International Trade Administration and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other trade-related agencies and programs. The funding legislation, which implements “the current Republican budget framework,” fails to provide the trade investment needed to boost the U.S. economy, said the White House (here).

President Barack Obama signed into law on May 22 legislation, HR-1075 (here), to name the CBP port located at First St. and Pan American Ave. in Douglas, Arizona as the Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry, the White House said in a statement (here). Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., introduced the bill in February.

President Barack Obama applauded on May 19 the recent pledge from lawmakers to quickly finish the House legislative process for Customs Reauthorization in order to launch a conference on the legislation. House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., along with Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., struck an agreement the day before to move to conference and send a compromise bill to Obama by the end of June (see 1505190011). The House hasn’t yet voted on its customs legislation, HR-1907 (here), and fundamental differences exist between that bill and the Senate-passed HR-644 (here). Obama praised provisions in the ENFORCE Act and the Leveling the Playing Field Act, both of which are part of the Senate legislation. “I look forward to working with both chambers to improve certain provisions and to ensure swift, strong and effective enforcement,” said Obama in a statement (here). “These critical enforcement tools are complementary to new trade agreements. This legislation should be considered and reach my desk as quickly as possible.”

President Barack Obama applauded Senate approval to open debate on Trade Promotion Authority in remarks late on May 14. The Senate had voted in favor of the procedural motion just hours before. Trade is the one policy area where Obama has a “significant difference” with progressive Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill, he said. “It is my firm belief that, despite the problems of previous trade deals, that we are better off writing high-standard rules with strong, enforceable provisions on things like child labor, or deforestation, or environmental degradation, or wildlife trafficking, or intellectual property -- we are better off writing those rules for what is going to be the largest, fastest-growing market in the world,” said Obama in the remarks.

President Barack Obama again praised progress in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in a speech at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. on May 8, saying the pact would boost U.S. manufacturing and break down barriers for U.S. exports (here). Democratic critics have ramped up criticism of the Obama administration’s trade plans as Trade Promotion Authority and the other three trade bills move through the legislative progress. Activists outside Nike headquarters held an anti-TPP rally (here). Obama countered that the lack of currency rules in TPP talks shouldn’t jeopardize the whole agreement. Administration officials will continue to diplomatically pressure foreign governments to avoid currency manipulation, said Obama. He also hit back at critics who say TPP could threaten U.S. regulations, an argument often invoked among concerns over investor-state dispute settlement. “They’re making this stuff up,” he said. “This is just not true.”

President Barack Obama will take to the bully pulpit again on May 8 to make his case for Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., the White House said in recent days. White House spokesman Josh Earnest largely deflected questions on May 6 about the choice of venue. "What I can just say as a general matter is that the President is looking forward to visiting the Nike headquarters and using it to illustrate how a responsible trade agreement that includes enforceable labor and environmental standards would strongly benefit middle-class families and the American economy," said Earnest in his daily briefing. The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign is organizing a protest during Obama's visit (here).