President Barack Obama’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto a House fiscal 2017 spending bill, partly because it proposes to cut $5 million from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s current $125 million budget, and would ban use of funds to further transactions involving Cuban government-confiscated property, according to an Office of Management and Budget Statement of Administration Policy released June 21 (here). The $120 million for CPSC proposed in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the fiscal 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill falls short of Obama’s request by $11 million.

President Barack Obama on June 22 signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, a reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Following the House’s May approval, the Senate passed the bill on June 7 after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., dropped his hold on the legislation (see 1606080021). The legislation would provide the Environmental Protection Agency with more tools to get testing information on chemical substances, preempt some state chemical regulations, clarify the treatment of trade secrets submitted to the EPA, and update the collection of fees pursuant to TSCA, among other things.

President Barack Obama has nominated Federal Maritime Commissioner Michael Khouri to serve his third term, which would expire on June 30, 2021. Khouri started his tenure in December 2009, and was reappointed for a full five-year term in 2011. Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee on June 15 will consider the nomination of FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye, the committee said (here).

President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in Beijing will discuss how to implement a joint prohibition on ivory trading, as the U.S. prepares to issue regulations to effectuate the ban, State Department Undersecretary for Economic Growth Catherine Novelli said during a press briefing previewing the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (here). “The U.S. is getting ready to roll out its regulations that are going to actually put this ban into effect, and we’re going to talk with the Chinese about how they’re progressing and doing their own regulations as well as talk about how we can work together with third countries who are facing problems of poaching,” she said. The price of ivory in China has halved since the two leaders announced the ban during last year’s dialogue, Novelli added.

The U.S. has lifted its 50-year arms embargo against Vietnam, as Washington continues efforts to normalize relations with the country, President Barack Obama said during a press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (here). Launching a three-day trip to the Southeast Asian country, Obama and his Vietnamese counterpart also highlighted their commitment to quickly and fully implementing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

President Barack Obama on May 20 signed HR-4923, the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act, into law, which places initial vetting jurisdiction for miscellaneous tariff bills (MTB) with the International Trade Commission (see 1604130047), the White House said (here). The Senate passed the bill on May 10 under expedited procedures, after the House approved it by a landslide on April 27. The Society of the Plastics Industry trade association on May 20 applauded the signing, saying in a statement (here) that since the expiration of the last MTB on Dec. 31, 2012, U.S. companies have faced a $748 million tariff hike on manufacturing in the U.S., and a $1.9 billion loss to the U.S. economy. “This law is a victory for American manufacturers, consumers and workers," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a statement. "When the new process is in place soon, it will be easier for our companies to compete in the global market and create new jobs at home."

President Barack Obama on May 11 signed into law S. 1890, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, the White House said (here). The legislation creates a private civil cause of action for misappropriation of trade secrets related to products or services in foreign or interstate commerce (see 1605020012). “Unfortunately, all too often, some of our competitors, instead of competing with us fairly, are trying to steal these trade secrets from American companies,” Obama said in remarks delivered in the Oval Office (here). “And that means a loss of American jobs, a loss of American markets, a loss of American leadership. What…members of Congress have done is to, on a bipartisan basis, pass a strong enforcement bill that allows us not only to go after folks who are stealing trade secrets through criminal actions, but also through civil actions, and hurt them where it counts: In their pocketbook.”

President Barack Obama on May 9 signed the "Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act," which establishes an interagency coordinating committee to prevent illegal looting and trafficking of cultural property and aims to facilitate the lawful trade of such goods, among other things. The House of Representatives on April 26 passed the conference version of the bill and sent it to Obama's desk (see 1605090026). Under the new law (here), the White House now has 90 days to restrict imports of any “archaeological or ethnological” materials from Syria.

President Barack Obama will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Ottawa, Ontario, on June 29, for the North American Leaders’ Summit to discuss a “more integrated” continent to advance its prosperity, and to work to strengthen bilateral and trilateral ties between the three countries, the White House said (here).

President Barack Obama defended his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in a Washington Post op-ed on May 2, saying the U.S. must “pursue every avenue of economic growth” to keep increasing job opportunities and maintain its global competitiveness (here). “Simply put, once the TPP is in place, American businesses will export more of what they make,” he wrote. “And that means supporting more higher-paying jobs.” The deal will strengthen the U.S. economy, ensure the U.S. has a place in the Asia-Pacific’s ongoing economic integration, and will distinguish U.S. as a rule-setter of trade, Obama wrote. “I understand the skepticism people have about trade agreements, particularly in communities where the effects of automation and globalization have hit workers and families the hardest,” he said. “But building walls to isolate ourselves from the global economy would only isolate us from the incredible opportunities it provides. Instead, America should write the rules. America should call the shots. Other countries should play by the rules that America and our partners set, and not the other way around.”