South Korea will be added to President Barack Obama’s itinerary during his Asia trip scheduled for late April, said the White House press secretary on Feb. 12. Obama will also travel to Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines, said the statement. In South Korea, Obama plans to discuss ongoing implementation of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, it said. In Japan, Obama plans to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the statement added.

The White House launched on Feb. 11 a multi-faceted strategy to strengthen a ban on commercial elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns, in a bid to crack down on all commercial imports into the U.S. and interstate commerce of related products, according to a White House press release and briefing from senior administration officials. The administration task force that is spearheading the strategy, created through presidential order in July 2013 (here), said the White House will use existing law, administrative orders and pressure on Congress to enact additional law in order to prohibit the trade.

Congressional opposition to the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority legislation is not a significant concern for European trading partners, French President François Hollande implied in a Feb. 11 press conference with President Barack Obama. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations remain underway. “I’m aware of the debate that is currently underway in Congress. But as long as principles have been set up, as long as mandates have been decided and the interests of everyone are known, speed is not of the essence,” said Hollande, speaking at the White House. “What we need is to find a solution. Of course a speedy agreement would be a good thing because otherwise there will be fears and threats. So if we act in good faith, if we respect each other, and if we want to promote growth, as we said a few moments ago, well, we can go faster.”

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will fuel broad economic growth in the U.S. and Europe, including among small businesses, said President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande in a Feb. 10 joint opinion column in The Washington Post. “The trade and investment partnership that we are pursuing between the European Union and the United States is a major opportunity to build on millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic already supported by U.S.-EU trade,” said the column. “Such an agreement would result in more trade, more jobs and more export opportunities.”

The White House announced on Feb. 7 the establishment of a “Made In Rural America” export initiative that aims to boost U.S. agriculture exports, among other products, through skills training seminars, conferences and federal resources provisions. The president’s Rural Council will partner with Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and other agencies. In addition to the initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would help build off recent U.S. advances in export growth, said USTR Michael Froman in a statement.

President Barack Obama plans to sign the Agricultural Act of 2014, this year’s iteration of the Farm Bill, into law on Feb. 7, C-SPAN reports. The legislation includes funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Market Access Program (MAP), designed to boost U.S. agricultural exports, but also keeps controversial USDA country of origin labeling and Catfish Inspection Program regimes in effect.

The top Republican lawmakers in both chambers are ratcheting up pressure on President Barack Obama to encourage support for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) among congressional Democrats. In his Jan. 28 State of the Union address, Obama touted Trade Promotion Authority as a means to increase U.S. exports, particularly in small and medium sized businesses (see 14012913). Leading House and Senate Republicans, however, say the brief reference is insufficient.

U.S. and European negotiators should not allow U.S. congressional opposition to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to deter focus on achieving an ambitious outcome in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said Secretary of State John Kerry at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 1. Kerry expressed “respect” for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., while implying Reid’s opposition to TPA may subside in the foreseeable future. “On the merits, this is a major initiative for us, for Europe, for the relationship, for the world. And when you combine it with the TPP, it really has a capacity to achieve what the WTO has not been able to succeed in, and it could have a profound impact on jumpstarting the economies for all of us,” said Kerry referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and World Trade Organization (WTO). “It’s worth millions of jobs, and in the end, jobs are a very powerful political persuasion.” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in attendance at the conference, also urged support for the trade pacts.

President Barack Obama will lobby in the immediate future to muster bipartisan support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade pacts, said White House spokesman Jay Carney during a Jan. 31 press briefing. Carney declined to comment on whether the administration is pressuring Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “What I can tell you is that the President is going to make clear in the days and weeks ahead why he supports expanding American exports, why trade agreements with Asia and Europe are good for American workers, good for the United States, good for our economy,” said Carney. “And he is going to, and we are going to, the administration is going to, and others involved are going to engage Democrats and Republicans and other stakeholders in that discussion.” As majority leader, Reid controls the Senate floor schedule. Reid rejected TPA legislation in Jan. 29 comments (see 14013025).

President Barack Obama should consider adding South Korea to his Asia tour itinerary in order to solidify South Korean interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, said Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analysts in a Jan. 31 Washington Post editorial (here), along with President of Armitage International Richard Armitage. Following Obama’s decision to forgo a trip to the region last October, the administration informally said the president would visit select Asian countries in April (here). CSIS Senior Advisor Victor Cha, CSIS Senior Vice President for Asia Michael Green, and Armitage said Obama is currently planning to visit Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia.