President Donald Trump extended a national emergency, initially declared in 2006 through Executive Order 13413, that provides the Treasury Department authority to sanction a wide range of individuals involved in ongoing turmoil in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The emergency will remain active through Oct. 27, 2018, a notice in the Federal Register said. Executive Order 13413 cast a wide net over individuals in the DRC responsible for a number of atrocities, targeting in particular foreign individuals and groups operating in the DRC. The order gave Treasury the right to block the transfer of funds associated with sanctioned individuals or groups that are in the U.S., or in control of a U.S. person, or will be in the future.

The U.S.’s “consistent trade surplus” with Singapore was highlighted in a joint statement after Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the White House on Oct. 24. Loong and President Donald Trump noted “the important role” the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement has had in “strengthening the robust economic relations” between the two countries, including trade expansion. “Bilateral trade has almost doubled from pre-FTA levels to reach more than $68 billion in 2016, with a consistent trade surplus for the United States,” the statement says. Both sides also welcomed Singaporean efforts in “strategic trade control initiatives,” including its “trial” of the World Customs Organization’s Cargo Targeting System to strengthen global supply chain security, the statement says. The U.S. and Singapore also “decided to consider exploring new areas of cooperation to prevent the global transportation sector from being abused by proliferators.” Finally, the leaders agreed that the “strong commercial relationship” between their nations was demonstrated by the signing for a Singapore Airlines purchase of 39 Boeing wide-body aircraft valued at $13.8 billion, the statement says.

The U.S. is extending a national emergency on narcotics trafficking from Colombia until Oct. 21, 2018, President Donald Trump said in an Oct. 16 memo. “The actions of significant narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and to cause an extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad,” Trump said.

U.S. and Japanese officials on Oct. 16 made “some initial progress” on lifting restrictions on U.S. imports of Japanese persimmons and on Japanese imports of Idaho potatoes, among other trade issues addressed during the second round of the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue in Washington, which started when Vice President Mike Pence visited Japan in April (see 1704140023). In a statement, the White House said Japan “committed to ensure meaningful transparency and fairness” for its geographical indications (GI) system, and in accordance with its domestic law and procedures, including those GIs that are protected through international agreements.

President Donald Trump officially sent the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen to be secretary of homeland security to the Senate Oct. 16, the White House announced.

Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the White House ahead of a bilateral meeting Oct. 11, President Donald Trump said he believes the NAFTA renegotiation will “work out very well for both countries and Mexico,” after threatening several times to withdraw from the pact. Trump also said termination would be “fine,” and noted the potential for either successful or failed negotiations. “It's possible we won't be able to make a deal, and it's possible that we will,” Trump said. “We'll see what happens with NAFTA, but I've been opposed to NAFTA for a long time. In terms of the fairness of NAFTA, I said we'll renegotiate. And I think Justin understands this: If we can't make a deal, it'll be terminated and that will be fine.” Trump also added that NAFTA was set to be a “big factor” during his meeting with Trudeau, and that the U.S. would seek bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico if trilateral negotiations break down.

Kirstjen Nielsen, currently deputy White House chief of staff, will likely be nominated for Homeland Security secretary, according to a report in The Washington Post on Oct. 11. The White House didn't immediately comment.

The U.S. government is actively engaging Thai officials in hopes of expanding U.S. exports to Thailand, President Donald Trump said before an Oct. 2 bilateral meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the White House. The Trump administration has devoted specific attention to U.S. trade deficits in goods with other countries, and the U.S. runs about an $11.5 billion cumulative goods trade deficit with Thailand so far this year, according to Census Bureau data. “I think we're going to try and sell a little bit more to you now, make that a little bit better if that's possible,” Trump said alongside Prayut. “But we have a big, full period of time scheduled with our two staffs.” Trump said officials from both nations have been “negotiating very long and hard,” and that their relationship is “becoming more and more important,” acknowledging that Thailand makes “different things that are really very important to us.”

An executive order released Sept. 21 by the White House outlined new sanctions on entities with links to North Korea. The order would prohibit any transfer, payment, export, withdrawal or other dealing in the property of any person Treasury determines to operate in the North Korean textile, transportation, manufacturing, medical, mining, IT, fishing, construction, energy or financial services industries. The order also bans any transactions involving anyone Treasury finds to own, control or operate any North Korean seaport, airport or land port of entry; anyone found to have engaged in at least one “significant” import from or export to North Korea of any goods, services or technology; and any North Korean who has engaged in commercial activity that generates revenue for the North Korean government or the Workers’ Party of Korea. The sanctions authorities are “in addition to” Commerce Department export control authorities, the order says.

President Donald Trump met with African leaders on Sept. 20 and voiced hope for expanding U.S. trade in Africa, including in the sectors of agriculture, transportation, energy and health care. Speaking in New York, Trump noted six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa. “Increasing American trade and investment across diverse industries … will further transform lives throughout the continent,” Trump said. In other remarks in New York that same day, before his meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump said "we look forward" to "doing a lot of trading with" the U.K., but didn't specifically mention anything about prospects of concluding a post-Brexit, U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement. During a discussion earlier this week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (see 1709180028), U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said such a deal is still probably a few years off, as the U.K. looks to build its trade negotiating competency post-Brexit.