President Barack Obama terminated the beneficiary status of Burundi in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the White House said in an Oct. 30 notification to Congress. That termination will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016. “Burundi has not established or is not making continual progress toward establishing the rule of law and political pluralism, as required by the AGOA eligibility,” said Obama in the notice. “In particular, the continuing crackdown on opposition members, which has included assassinations, extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture, have worsened significantly during the election campaign that returned President Nkurunziza to power earlier this year.” Violence has rocked Burundi over recent months, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s announcement in April that he would run for a third term in office. The government has cracked down on political opposition and armed militia groups, Obama said. The unrest has caused 200,000 Burundians to flee the country, the notice said.
The U.S. and Pakistan launched a joint action plan on Oct. 22 to boost trade and investment ties. The announcement of the plan coincides with Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the White House on the same day.
President Barack Obama authorized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Oct. 20 to draft and submit to Congress an annual report on the International Trade Data System (ITDS). Obama directed Johnson to publish that authorization in the Federal Register, the White House said in a statement (here). The most recent version of the annual report covered fiscal year 2013 (see 14012923).
President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister-Designate Justin Trudeau affirmed on Oct. 20 a joint commitment to move forward with implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the White House said in a statement that followed a call between the two officials. The Canadian Liberal party scored a decisive victory in a nationwide election in recent days, ousting outgoing Prime Minister Stephan Harper and sending Liberal leader Trudeau to the premiership. Some trade experts expected the Canadian election to hamper progress on the TPP (see 1508050036), but the 12 members still wrapped up negotiations in early October (see 1510050020).
The U.S. is extending a national emergency on narcotics trafficking from Colombia, President Barack Obama told House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in an Oct. 19 letter (here). That national emergency will stay in effect through Oct. 21, 2016, said the letter, released by the White House. “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,” said Obama. The Treasury Department has steadily dropped Colombian individuals and entities, accused of involvement in trafficking, from the Specially Designated Nationals list over recent months (see 1510160013).
The U.S. launched the regulatory process to end sanctions with Iran on Oct. 18, “adoption day” for the Joint Comprehensive Plan on Action, said President Barack Obama in a statement (here). Iran is scheduled to follow suit by beginning to scale back enrichment activities. The other JCPOA partners, P5+1 countries and the European Union, are poised to reduce sanctions on Iran as well, said the statement.
President Barack Obama signed the Border Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015, HR-2835, into law on Oct. 16, the White House said in a release. The legislation aims to boost CBP employment opportunities for military veterans by folding CBP job opportunities into the Defense Department’s Transition Assistance Program, among other outreach methods, while also directing the Department of Homeland Security to expedite hiring of veterans. Both chambers of Congress passed versions of the legislation unanimously in recent weeks, and the Senate ultimately chose to move forward with the House bill (see 1510020013). The two bills contained only minor differences.
The U.S. continues to welcome South Korean interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership following conclusion of TPP talks earlier this month, the White House said in a fact sheet on the U.S.-South Korean alliance (here). The White House praised strengthened trade ties between the two countries and urged further implementation of the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). “The United States reaffirms that it welcomes the [South Korea’s] interest in TPP. Under the KORUS FTA, [South Korea] has already adopted many high standard provisions,” said the fact sheet. “The United States and the ROK have held constructive consultations on TPP and specific issues of concern, and look forward to deepening these consultations.”
The Obama administration should release the legal text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership “right now,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a recent letter to President Barack Obama. Trumka rejected U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman’s call to release the text within a month (see 1510130021). “When there is such good news to share, there is no need for secrecy. If TPP will do for the American middle class all that USTR claims, releasing the text would be the single best way to prove that,” said Trumka in the letter. “Creating a level playing field for American workers includes equal access to information, and the only way to ensure that is to ensure that all Americans have equal access to the text – not in 30 days, after the public relations spin has been spun, but right now.”
President Barack Obama signed into law on Sept. 30 a “clean” continuing resolution, an amendment to HR-719 (here), only hours before federal government funding was set to lapse on Sept. 30 at midnight. The stopgap measure keeps fiscal year 2015 funding in place through Dec. 11. The Senate decisively passed the bill on Sept. 30 in the morning (see 1509300021), and the House followed suit later in the day.