President Barack Obama delivered a defense of his support for Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership in a speech on April 23 (here). Obama again hit back at Democratic opposition, arguing the TPP will help the U.S. economy and tackle ongoing problems in NAFTA.
President Barack Obama again applauded the introduction of Trade Promotion Authority in remarks alongside Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on April 17. The legislation will give the U.S. the opportunity to lock down the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and those pacts will benefit both the U.S. economy and workers, he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi pledged to continue his country’s bid to join the World Trade Organization in an April 16 meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, the White House said in a statement. Iraq launched the process for WTO accession in 2004 (here).
President Barack Obama initiated a 45-day Congressional review process to remove Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. That review period is required by U.S. law, said the White House in a statement (here). Obama sent a memo to Congress confirming the Cuban government has not supported terrorism over the past six-months. Cuba also vowed to not support terrorism in the future, Obama's memo said. “After a careful review of Cuba’s record, which was informed by the Intelligence Community, as well as assurances provided by the Cuban government, the Secretary of State concluded that Cuba met the conditions for rescinding its designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism,” the White House said. “The Secretary of State therefore recommended that the President make and submit to Congress the statutorily-required report and certification.”
Vice President Joe Biden urged South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 14 to pressure removal of poultry market access barriers for U.S. exports to the country, the White House said in an emailed statement. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently pushed South African industry to quickly slash antidumping duties on U.S. poultry (see 1503310069). Those lawmakers predicted the Senate Finance Committee will introduce a renewal bill for the African Growth and Opportunity Act at some point in April. AGOA is set to expire at the end of September. Biden said the Obama administration wants to renew AGOA “as soon as possible,” but the South African poultry barriers remain a “concern.”
The White House is reportedly preparing to remove Cuba from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list in the coming days ahead of a high-profile meeting between President Barack Obama and Cuban counterpart Raúl Castro at the Summit of the Americas. Obama will attend the event in Panama City from April 10-11, and this year’s summit will be the first to host a Cuban leader. A White House official confirmed that Obama spoke with Castro on the telephone on April 8, according to a pool report.
The U.S. aims to pressure progress on Trade Facilitation Agreement ratification processes among World Trade Organization members during the upcoming Summit of the Americas, said senior National Security Council official Ricardo Zuñiga on an April 7 conference call (here). Panama City is hosting the summit, and President Barack Obama will attend from April 10-11. The U.S. is targeting the end of 2015 for completed ratifications of two-thirds of the now 161 WTO members, the threshold the agreement requires for implementation (see 1502240001). Zuñiga also applauded the approaching completion of the Panama Canal expansion, saying the project will allow ships to double the amount of goods they transport. White House national security advisor Ben Rhodes joined Zuñiga on the call, and both officials pointed to the economic gains in stock after expansion is wrapped up.
President Barack Obama applauded Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, for his "very hard" work on Trade Promotion Authority on April 3, during a speech in Hatch's home state (here). Some trade observers expect Hatch to mark up a TPA-led legislative package in late April, despite ongoing efforts to garner support from Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. (see 1504030002). "Utah is one of the leading exporting states in the country, and part of the reason that this state has been so successful," said Obama. "And we're very grateful that Senator Hatch is working with Wyden to make sure that we can get that deal done." Obama has repeatedly pushed Congress to move on TPA over recent months (see 1502220006), and the president has deployed cabinet officials to also sell the legislation to Congress and the American public (see 1502100060).
President Barack Obama gave the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of State, wide-ranging authority to sanction individuals who engaged in cyber threats to U.S. infrastructure and trade secrets, as part of an April 1 executive order (here). The order “augments” the U.S. ability to combat those and other “malicious” activities, the White House said in a fact sheet (here).
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would "establish new standards" and boost economies in both the U.S. and Europe, Vice President Joe Biden and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a joint statement following a March 31 meeting in Washington (here). The two officials discussed TTIP, alongside a range of security, energy and environment topics, the White House said in the release. Several high-ranking European officials have called for significant progress on TTIP this year (see 1503240062).