The U.S. and other P5 + 1 countries struck a historic deal with Iran early on July 14 to provide guidelines and directives to administer the Iranian nuclear enrichment program, the White House and other negotiators said in statements. The accord will launch a rollout of U.S. “phased sanctions relief upon verification that Iran has implemented key nuclear commitments,” said the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in its July 14 directive (here).
The U.S., Iran and other world powers continued to hammer out a compromise on a final nuclear enrichment agreement on July 13, capping off nearly three weeks of formal talks in Vienna. Iranian officials dismissed speculation over another extension of the round, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m., the British Broadcasting Corporation reported (here). The U.S. Treasury Department extended the sanctions relief associated with the talks through July 13 (here). Talks were originally set to conclude on June 30, but negotiations have been extended several times since (see 1507080016).
The U.S. and Vietnam are collaborating to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations “as soon as possible,” said the two countries in a joint statement released by the White House on July 7, following a summit between President Barack Obama and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The summit marks the first time the head of Vietnam’s communist party, one of the highest-ranking officials in the country, visited the White House since the countries normalized diplomatic relations nearly 20 years ago. “The United States and Vietnam expect to work in close coordination … to carry out whatever reforms may be necessary to meet the high standards of the TPP agreement, including as necessary with respect to commitments relating to the 1998 ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,” said the statement (here).
The U.S. and Canada are pushing for an "early conclusion" to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, said the White House following a meeting between Vice President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 5. The two officials met in Vancouver. Obama administration officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have for months urged Canada to dismantle or revise its agriculture supply management programs as part of the TPP pact (see 1504070006), but neither government has announced new proposals. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn't respond for comment. President Barack Obama signed Trade Promotion Authority into law on June 29 after months of political wrangling (see 1506290045). Free trade supporters have argued TPA will allow TPP parties to put their best offers on the table.
The Commerce Department and the Brazilian Industry and Trade Ministry signed an agreement on June 30 to boost cooperation on “standards and conformity assessment,” the White House said in a statement (here). President Barack Obama and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, met at the White House on June 30. The statement said the two countries continue to work to broaden beef trade. The two countries will also launch a partnership by the end of 2015 to collaborate on implementing single window systems, the release said.
President Barack Obama signed into law on June 29 the Trade Preferences Extension Act and the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, the most recent version of Trade Promotion Authority. The preference package includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, two Haiti tariff preference levels, Trade Adjustment Assistance and a host of new tariff changes (see 1504230001). Republican leadership in Congress praised the passage of TPA as a critical step in locking down the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade pacts. "This measure will strengthen the hand of U.S. negotiators, allowing them to secure the best deal for American workers while maintaining new, rigorous standards of transparency and accountability," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in a statement.
President Barack Obama hailed recent Congressional action on trade legislation in remarks on June 25, following a critical House vote that capped months of intense Capitol Hill wrangling on trade. The House overwhelmingly supported the package, which includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Trade Adjustment Assistance. “This week's votes represent a much-needed win for hardworking American families,” said Obama. “I look forward to signing these bipartisan bills into law as soon as they reach my desk.” Many trade supporters expect the U.S. to now step up focus on closing Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. Obama didn’t mention the 12-nation pact directly, but said TPA will help the U.S. “write the rules of our global economy.” Lawmakers now are likely to head to conference over Customs Reauthorization, but that bill is now legislatively disconnected from TPA and the trade package.
The efficiency gains made through the International Trade Data System (ITDS) may be limited by port congestion issues unless quickly addressed, said Nathaniel Loewentheil, a policy advisor with the White House National Economic Council. Loewentheil discussed the issue during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness on June 23. While the implementation of ITDS in December 2016 will streamline the importing and exporting processes, the system won't be as effective unless these problems at the ports are addressed first, he said. Loewentheil discussed solutions to port congestion and inadequate infrastructure, and how far the federal budget will stretch to fund these changes, during the meeting.
The industrial countries that make up the G-7 pledged on June 8 to “immediately accelerate” Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks with the “goal of finalizing understandings on the outline of an agreement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year." The G-7 is comprised of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Germany hosted the summit in Schloss Elmau and a joint statement (here) said the next G-7 summit will be held in Japan in 2016.
The White House lashed into House legislation to appropriate funds for the Commerce Department in a June 1 statement, arguing the bill would underfund the International Trade Administration and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other trade-related agencies and programs. The funding legislation, which implements “the current Republican budget framework,” fails to provide the trade investment needed to boost the U.S. economy, said the White House (here).