President Barack Obama's Feb. 19 executive order calling for the completion of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) by 2016 (see 14021928) continued to garner support. “This Executive Order will be beneficial to improving our supply chain efficiency and moving goods and services that cross our borders,” said Scott Davis, CEO of UPS, in a press release (here). “This change will be particularly meaningful to our small and medium-sized customers that depend on global trade to grow their businesses and reach the 95 percent of consumers that live outside U.S. borders.”

President Barack Obama remains committed to signing Trade Promotion Authority, despite vocal opposition to the legislation from Democratic leaders in Congress, said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Feb. 14. “The idea that there is some opposition within the Democratic Party historically and traditionally to fast track is not a new discovery. It wasn’t new last week, it wasn’t new in 1993, and it certainly hasn’t been new any time in the interim,” said Carney at a White House press briefing. “Our position hasn’t changed, nor has the fact that this is an issue that has been contentious for both parties for decades.” Trade Promotion Authority expired in 1994, under President Bill Clinton, and Congress did not renew the legislation until 2002. The legislation then expired in 2007, and has yet to be renewed.

President Barack Obama intends to prioritize expanding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Trusted Traveler programs and concluding Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations during discussions with U.S. and Canadian officials at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico on Feb. 19, senior Obama Administration officials said in a call with reporters on Feb. 14.

President Barack Obama sent the nomination of Todd Batta for assistant secretary of Agriculture to the Senate on Feb. 12, said a White House press release.

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.

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 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.

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.