The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump added new members for the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Homeland Security, it said (here). Nova Daly, an “international investment and trade policy professional” with Wiley Rein, and Stephen Vaughn, a trade lawyer who focuses on antidumping and countervailing duty cases with King & Spalding, are on the USTR team. Thomas DiNanno of the International Assessment & Strategy Center and Katharine Gorka of the Council on Global Security are with DHS. Separately, news reports (here) indicate Trump intends to nominate Elaine Chao as secretary of transportation. Chao was secretary of labor under George W. Bush, and deputy secretary of transportation from 1989 to 1991.

President-elect Donald Trump’s “landing team” that will lay the groundwork for agency transitions after Jan. 20 includes retired Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco and Skadden Arps attorney Robert Lighthizer for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, according to an announcement by the Trump transition team (here). Members of the Commerce Department landing team are Ray Washburne of Charter Holdings, David Bohigian of Pluribus Ventures, and Joan Maginnis, a retired Commerce official, the announcement says. Trump’s Treasury Department landing team consists of Mauricio Claver-Carone of Cuba Democracy Advocates, self-employed economist Judy Shelton, Curtis Dubay of the Heritage Foundation, and William Walton of Rappahannock Ventures.

Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group agreed to refrain from imposing customs duties on electronically transmitted content, committed to not competitively devalue currencies, and adopted a set of best practices to protect trade secrets, according to a White House fact sheet (here) recapping the Nov. 18-20 APEC summit in Lima. The best-practices document (here) suggests that APEC members apply broad standing to claims for the protection of trade secrets and enforcement against their theft; outlines standards for remedies, penalties, and civil and criminal liability for trade secrets theft; and recommends adoption of “written measures” to better protect against further disclosure when governments require submission of trade secrets. “The progress achieved today at APEC is an important step in the right direction,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a Nov. 21 statement (here). “We look forward to working with countries in the Asia-Pacific to raise standards for trade secret protection and enforcement, including the adoption of these best practices.”

President-elect Donald Trump will withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office, he said in a Nov. 21 video message describing the presidential transition (here). “I’ve asked our transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on Day One to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. It’s about time,” he said. “These include the following: On trade, I’m going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country.” Instead of the TPP, the Trump administration will negotiate “fair,” bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry “back onto American shores,” Trump said.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) called on President-elect Donald Trump to request more and to fairly disperse allocations for harbor maintenance tax (HMT) spending and boost federal investments in navigation channel deepening and widening, among other things, AAPA said (here). In a document the group sent to Trump’s transition team (here), AAPA also urged the incoming administration to provide 500 more CBP maritime staff at U.S. seaports, promote installation and upkeep of radiation portal monitors at U.S. ports, and bump up the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program funding level. “Local ports and their private-sector partners plan to invest nearly $155 billion into infrastructure over the next five years,” AAPA CEO Kurt Nagle said in a statement. “Leveraging federal investments in seaport and freight-related programs will yield huge dividends in the form of economic growth, maintaining and creating jobs, enhancing America’s international competitiveness and sustaining a healthy environment.” AAPA also recommended the upcoming administration create a “21st Century Port Portfolio” in the Department of Energy to facilitate coordination between ports and DOE on technologies that reduce emissions, electrify port operations, and support new clean energy terminal designs and construction.

President Barack Obama on Nov. 14 threatened to veto a bill that would prohibit the Treasury secretary from authorizing a transaction by a public or private U.S. financial institution for the export or re-export of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran, according to a statement of administration policy (here). The House Rules Committee on Nov. 14 cleared the bill, H.R. 5711, for floor consideration. The bill seeks to deter permissible business with Iran, and would prevent the U.S. from meeting commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by effectively banning the U.S. from licensing the sale of commercial aircraft for exclusively civil end uses, the statement says.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership should be easier to pass through Congress than last year’s Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), in part because the TPP requires only 50 votes, rather than TPA’s 60, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during an Oct. 26 press briefing (here). The Obama administration can point to tariff benefits that countries will provide on certain products under the agreement like cowboy boots and barbecue sauce, Earnest said. “Now there are tangible benefits that individual representatives in Congress can point to, to explain their vote,” he said. “There’s a stronger rationale for the vote. There is a stronger, more specific economic case that we can make about the benefits that the country will enjoy based on the approval of the agreement [than for TPA]. And the legislative process is not nearly as complicated as it was last summer.” Earnest said all these factors make the Obama administration more confident about its ability to sell the deal to Congress when they return for the upcoming lame-duck session.

President Barack Obama will describe the continued efforts of his administration to secure near-term congressional approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership when he meets with heads of other TPP countries during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Peru Nov. 18-20, the White House said in a statement (here). “He will emphasize our continued support for the agreement’s high, enforceable standards that will benefit American workers and businesses while furthering our national security imperatives in the Asia Pacific,” the statement says. Obama has met with leaders of the other TPP member nations on the margins of APEC since 2011.

Political party candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the final presidential debate (here) Oct. 19 each argued that he or she would better address product dumping in the U.S. by Chinese exporters. Clinton said “one of the biggest problems we have” is China’s illegal dumping of steel and aluminum into U.S. markets, and accused Trump of buying those products from China for construction projects, including the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. “He goes around with crocodile tears about how terrible it is, but he has given jobs to Chinese steelworkers, not American steelworkers,” she said. Trump countered by saying that when Clinton was in previous public service positions, she should have changed the laws to make it illegal for developers, including Trump, to use Chinese steel in building projects. “For thirty years, you’ve been in a position to help,” Trump said. “And if you say I've used steel or I used something else, make it impossible for me to do that. I wouldn’t mind. The problem is you talk, but you don't get anything done, Hillary. You don't.” Clinton said she fought against dumping as a senator and as secretary of State.

President Barack Obama signed into law the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016, meant to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking and increase interagency involvement with pertinent governments. The bill would require the U.S. government to make recommendations for how to address wildlife trafficking threats and would also instruct yearly reporting on how all appropriations to combat the illicit practice are being spent, according to the bill text (here). The Senate passed the bill Sept. 15, after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved it in April (see 1604280052). The House approved the bill Sept. 21.