A March 31 executive order (here) signed by President Donald Trump tasked the commerce secretary and the U.S. trade representative with leading interagency efforts to submit a report to the White House by June 29 on the causes and impacts of the 2016 U.S. trade deficit in goods. The order instructs those Cabinet officials to consult with the secretaries of State, the Treasury, Defense, Agriculture and Homeland Security in preparing the report. The order also notes a 2016 U.S. trade deficit in goods of more than $700 billion and an overall trade deficit last year of more than $500 billion.
The Trump administration is considering a push for new World Trade Organization trade facilitation commitments as part of NAFTA renegotiations, according to a draft notice from Acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn (here). That would mean new rules requiring NAFTA countries to conduct "customs operations with transparency, efficiency, and predictability, and that customs laws, regulations, decisions, and rulings are not applied in a manner that would create unwarranted procedural obstacles to international trade," it said. Those commitments were included in a list of three main "customs matters" in the draft. Congress earlier this week (see 1703290038) received the draft, which, once finalized, would formally initiate a consultation period ahead of NAFTA discussions.
President Donald Trump sent the nominations of Scott Gottlieb for Food and Drug Administration commissioner and William Hagerty for U.S. ambassador to Japan, to the Senate, according to a White House announcement.
Organizations that represent port authorities and CBP officers reacted in disappointment to President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget blueprint, submitted to Congress March 16 and would cut port-related funding while increasing discretionary Department of Homeland Security spending (see 1703160022). The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) is “apprehensive” about the blueprint, including a proposal to significantly reduce DHS’s Port Security Grants Program and end the Transportation Department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants program, the group said in a statement (here). House Speaker Paul Ryan (here), R-Wis., commended Trump’s budget, saying he is “determined” to work with the White House in shrinking government, growing the economy, securing U.S. borders, and providing troops with necessary resources. Ryan said he will review the blueprint with the House Appropriations Committee and the House Republican Conference.
President Donald Trump on March 13 issued an executive order (here) instructing Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney to draw up a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies, agency components and agency programs. Per the order, every agency head must send the OMB director a plan to reorganize their agency to improve efficiency, effectiveness and accountability, by Sept. 9. Further, the order tasks the OMB director with publishing a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on ways to improve the organization and functioning of the executive branch. Then, the director within 180 days of the closing of the comment period must submit a proposal including legislative and/or administrative recommendations to the president for reorganization of the executive branch to enhance the “efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of agencies,” according to the executive order.
President Donald Trump announced (here) that he plans to nominate Scott Gottlieb to serve as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. Gottlieb is a physician, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a venture partner at venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Medicine. Gottlieb was the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs from 2005 to 2007. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will consider Gottlieb’s nomination. Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement (here) said she will closely evaluate Gottlieb on his approach to food safety, youth tobacco use prevention, and encouraging markets for generic and biosimilar drugs, among other things. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in a statement (here) lauded Gottlieb’s qualifications as a physician and former FDA official.
President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination of House Ways and Means Committee Democratic Minority Chief Trade Counsel Jason Kearns to serve on the International Trade Commission for an eight-year term, the Senate announced (here). Former President Barack Obama nominated Kearns in January (see 1701180034). The White House withdrew numerous nominees, including both Republicans and Democrats, that were submitted during the previous administration. The White House plans to renominate "a number" of those withdrawn, a spokeswoman said.
President Donald Trump struck a noticeably protectionist tone during his speech (here) before a joint session of Congress Feb. 28, citing a warning by former President Abraham Lincoln that abandoning the “protective policy” would devastate American society, while trumpeting free and fair trade. “It’s been a long time since we had fair trade,” Trump said. “The first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, warned that the abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people. Lincoln was right, and it’s time we heeded his advice and his words.” Trump said several countries make exporting U.S. companies pay “very high tariffs and taxes,” but the U.S. charges foreign companies who ship products here “nothing or almost nothing.” For instance, Harley-Davidson executives and workers told Trump in a recent meeting that it’s difficult to do business overseas because of high taxes on U.S. goods, in one case, even taxing Harley motorcycles at 100 percent, Trump said. “They weren’t even asking for a change,” he said. “But I am.”
President Donald Trump appointed members of his National Economic Council (NEC) on Feb. 27, the White House announced (here). Among the appointees are Andrew Quinn to serve as special assistant to the president for International Trade, Investment and Development; Ray Starling to serve as special assistant to the president for Agriculture, Trade and Food Assistance; and Kenneth Juster to serve as deputy NEC director and deputy assistant to the president for International Economic Affairs, in which he will serve as the lead U.S. negotiator for the G-7, G-20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summits. Quinn arrives from his previous post as deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, while Starling shifts from serving as chief of staff to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Juster transfers from investment firm Warburg Pincus.
The White House is exploring alternatives to the World Trade Organization dispute resolution system and "incoming officials” have tasked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with drafting a blueprint of legal mechanisms for unilateral trade remedies, the Financial Times reported (here). The U.S. would remain a WTO member under the plans. President Donald Trump called the WTO a “disaster” for the U.S. in July during his general election campaign (see 1607260043). The White House didn’t comment on the report.