President Barack Obama urged Congress to remove the half-century embargo on Cuba in his State of the Union address. That plea follows executive action in December to partially normalize relations with the country, and regulatory changes in recent days that liberalize bilateral trade (see 1501150031). Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., introduced a bill this Congress to repeal the Helms-Burton Act, which codifies sanctions against Cuba (see 1501160009).

Passage of Iran sanctions legislation will torpedo administration efforts to diplomatically resolve the long-standing conflict with Iran over its nuclear enrichment ambitions, said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union. Obama vowed to veto the bill, and instead championed progress at the negotiating table. "Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran, where, for the first time in a decade, we’ve halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material," said Obama.

President Barack Obama should “call for action” on Trade Promotion Authority in his State of the Union address on Jan. 20 in order to “provide momentum” for the ambitious U.S. trade agenda in 2015, said U.S. Council for International Business President Peter Robinson in a recent letter (here). Peterson’s comments echo those of a number of trade observers, who are urging Obama to engage directly in the legislative process (see 1501070057). TPA will help shepherd through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the World Trade Organization Trade in Services Agreement, said Robinson.

President Barack Obama sent the nomination of Mario Cordero for a second term on the Federal Maritime Commission. Cordero is currently the agency's chairman. If the Senate approves Cordero's nomination, his term will expire in 2019. Obama sent the reappointment nomination to the Senate in September, but all nominations have to be resubmitted after a new Congress convenes.

President Barack Obama again sent the nomination of Marisa Lago to be a deputy U.S. Trade Representative to the Senate on Jan. 8. Lago is the assistant secretary for international markets and development at the Treasury Department and has worked in several public and private capacities. Obama nominated her first in November, but nominations have to be resubmitted at the outset of a new congressional term. The previous assistant USTR, Miriam Sapiro, stepped down nearly a year ago.

Mexican workers’ rights are deteriorating due to economic inequality, pervasive corruption and a range of other factors, and President Barack Obama should have pressed that concern in his Jan. 6 meeting with Mexican counterpart Enrique Peña Nieto, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a letter to Obama that preceded the summit. The U.S. and Mexico held a high level economic dialogue on Jan. 6, and both sides championed progress on trade facilitation and infrastructure, among other areas of cooperation (see 1501060011).

The U.S. and Mexico will continue to work together to harmonize customs processing, and the two countries will also open three new border facilities in the near future, said a joint statement following a Jan. 6 meeting of the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (here). The White House released another fact sheet earlier in the day on bilateral economic and trade relations (see 1501060011). Both sides will continue to work to build the new facilities at the West Rail Bypass between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville; the Guadalupe-Tornillo Port of Entry on the border between the Chihuahua state in Mexico and Texas; and the Tijuana Airport Pedestrian Facility, said the joint statement. The U.S. and Mexico are also aiming for progress on the proposed Otay II border crossing in the Tijuana-San Diego border region, it said. Further, both sides plan to implement an air services agreement, brokered in November 2014, after each approval process is completed, the statement added.

President Barack Obama will host Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in the White House on Jan. 6, and Vice President Joe Biden will then lead the second meeting of the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue in Washington. Alongside Biden, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and a number of cabinet officials will meet with their Mexican counterparts to push forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the rest of the bilateral economic and trade agenda, the White House said in a fact sheet (here). The White House said the two sides already agreed to ease restrictions on trade in energy-related equipment as part of broader efforts to address climate change. Both the U.S. and Mexico are aiming to cut back on bottlenecks at the border and increase regulatory cooperation to facilitate more trade, the White House said. Mexican Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray, in joint remarks with Biden, said the two countries are making progress on trusted trader programs, according to a White House press pool report.

President Barack Obama authorized sanctions against North Korea on Jan. 2, several weeks after the Justice Department accused the Pyongyang regime of cyber hacking Sony Pictures. In an executive order, Obama said North Korea’s “destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014” violate UN resolutions (here). The U.S. does not import goods from North Korean due to restrictions already in place (here), so the executive action is unlikely to change the bilateral trade relationship.

The White House cut South Sudan and The Gambia from African Growth and Opportunity Act preferences through executive action on Dec. 23, but restored AGOA preferential status for Guinea-Bissau after two years of suspended benefits (here). South Sudan and The Gambia are not making the necessary progress to meet U.S. eligibility requirements, said President Barack Obama in a formal proclamation. Their benefits will be axed on Jan. 1, 2015.