Singapore is a strong economic partner to the U.S., President Barack Obama said at an April 2 meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (http://xrl.us/bosqwk). Since the two countries signed a trade agreement a decade ago, “we have seen a doubling of trade” between the partners, he said.

President Obama signed into law March 26 a continuing resolution to fully fund the government until the end of the fiscal year. The resolution, passed by the House and Senate last week, keeps in place unilateral spending cuts known as the sequester, but will keep all cabinets and government agencies running until September (read the complete bill here). Specific budget items include:

President Obama has nominated Fred Hochberg to be president of the Export-Import Bank, a position Hochberg has held since 2009. Other nominations announced March 21 are:

The Obama Administration officially notified Congress of intentions to enter into trade negotiations with the European Union March 20. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will have to seek innovative ways to reduce non-tariff trade barriers between the U.S. and EU, Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in his letter to Congress announcing the negotiations (here). The administration’s goals for the talks include reducing trade barriers based on unscientific sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions, crafting strong intellectual property rights and ensuring transparent and efficient customs operations.

The 10 letters of recommendation approved at the March 12 President's Export Council meeting are now available online (here). Letter topics include the administration's Doing Business in Africa campaign, the International Services Agreement, U.S.-Canada trade facilitation and finding replacements for Export-Import Bank board members. The President's Export Council also discussed Trans-Pacific Partnership and U.S.-EU trade agreement negotiations at the meeting (see 13031232).

Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jeffery Zients will stay at the agency until the new director is confirmed, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said March 19. Zients was rumored to be a potential U.S. Trade Representative pick, replacing Ron Kirk. The White House is waiting on Senate confirmation for its OMB director nominee, Sylvia Burwell. “[Zients] has been just an enormously valuable player on the President’s economic team,” Carney said in his daily press briefing. “… the President appreciates his service and his willingness to continue as acting director very much indeed.”

Accelerating implementation of the International Trade Data System and crafting priorities for cargo research and development are two of the focus areas for 2013 in the Obama administration’s National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, according to an update on the strategy released March 5. First published in 2012, the strategy is charged with “promoting the efficient and secure movement of legitimate goods and fostering a global supply chain system that is resilient to natural as well as man-made disruptions,” according to the update. In 2012, federal departments and agencies made progress in streamlining government processes to facilitate trade, such as establishing Centers for Excellence and Expertise, crafting mutual recognition arrangements with the EU for cargo security programs and creating the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center, the update said. In 2013, focus areas include:

Advancing Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, an EU-U.S. trade agreement and trade liberalization through the WTO are the highlights of President Barack Obama’s 2013 Agenda on Trade Policy, released March 1. The 382-page document mentions Trade Promotion Authority just once: “To facilitate the conclusion, approval, and implementation of market-opening negotiating efforts, we will also work with Congress on Trade Promotion Authority. Such authority will guide current and future negotiations, and will thus support a jobs-focused trade agenda moving forward.” Some congressional leaders have criticized President Obama for not stressing TPA enough. “Making TPA a reality requires more than talk, it demands real leadership and action from the President,” said Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in a statement (here).

The Obama administration announced plans Feb. 20 to combat the theft of U.S. trade secrets; a coordinated effort between government agencies and the private sector with effects that it said will ripple through the administration’s trade agenda. The plan includes an increase in enforcement efforts and a proposed provision in the still-unfinalized Trans-Pacific Partnership that would offer rights holders remedies similar to those under U.S. law, such as criminal prosecutions for trade secret theft, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis at the announcement.

Trade-related business groups were generally supportive of President Obama's support of trade and infrastructure during his Feb. 12 State of the Union address (see ITT's Online Archives 13021326), they indicated in statements issued after the address.