President Barack Obama extended a national emergency, initially declared in 2006 through Executive Order 13413 (here), that provides the Treasury Department authority to sanction a wide range of individuals involved in ongoing turmoil in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Obama notified Congress that the national emergency will be extended, although he did not include an expiration date in that notification. Executive Order 13413 cast a wide net over individuals in the DRC responsible for a number of atrocities, targeting in particular foreign individuals and groups operating in the DRC. The order gave Treasury the right to block the transfer of funds associated with sanctioned individuals or groups that are in the U.S., or in control of a U.S. person, or will be in the future.

President Barack Obama extended a two-decade old authority to sanction Colombian narcotics traffickers. The White House said the move is in accordance with the National Emergencies Act, and will be renewed for one year. The 1995 executive order continues to block the property and assets of a broad range of people associated with narcotics trafficking to the U.S. (here).

It's the right time to strike an agreement on a text for the U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty, and the two sides should ramp up efforts in the first part of 2015 to make sure China narrows down its list of sectors exempt from the treaty, said more than 50 U.S. CEOs in an Oct. 15 letter to President Barack Obama. The 15th round of negotiations on the treaty wrapped up in late September, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative dispatched Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman to Beijing this week to prepare for the annual U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (see 1410140043). “If China can significantly reduce its negative list and open markets to American manufacturers, agriculture producers, and service providers, you will find the business community fully engaged and supportive of your leadership to gain Senate approval of the treaty,” said the letter, signed by leaders from Caterpillar, Coca-Cola and dozens of other negotiations. “There are few other commercial outcomes that would gain as much support from business leaders in both the United States and China.”

President Barack Obama pressed the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in an Oct. 14 call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the White House said in a press release, while declining to comment further on whether the two leaders made progress in resolving TPP disagreements. "The president stressed the need to be bold in order to achieve their shared vision of a more prosperous and integrated Asia-Pacific region," said the statement. The U.S. and Japan have battled for the better part of 2014 over Japanese agricultural market access and auto issues in TPP (see 14100601)

President Barack Obama on Oct. 3 officially removed Russia from the list of countries that benefit from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Russia has economically advanced and developed its trade competitiveness to a point that no longer justifies its inclusion in the preference program, said Obama. The Trade Act of 1974 will be modified and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule will be amended to reflect the removal of Russia, Obama said in the statement. Obama told Congress in May that he intended to remove Russia from the program (see 14050805). The termination is effective Oct. 3. The GSP program has been expired for more than a year.

President Barack Obama aims to nominate Dean Garfield, Harold McGraw and Bob Stallman as members of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). All three industry representatives currently sit on the committee. Garfield has served as president of the Information Technology Industry Council since 2008, and was first appointed to the committee in 2010. McGraw, also on the committee since 2010, is chairman of the McGraw-Hill Financial, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Emergency Committee for American Trade and the U.S. Council for International Business. He served as ACTPN chairman from 2012-2014. Stallman is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and was first appointed to the ACTPN in 2007.

The U.S. and India may "soon" be able to reach compromise on implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in remarks following two days of bilateral negotiations in Washington, D.C. India is committed to trade facilitation, but will continue to demand a change in agricultural subsidy rules, said Modi, while declining to discuss what World Trade Organization concession India prefers. In the lead-up to Modi’s visit, trade analysts said they did not expect the meetings to yield tangible outcomes on trade disagreements (see 14093002).

President Barack Obama announced on Sept. 25 plans to nominate 11 individuals to sit on the U.S. Trade Representative Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. The nominations include union leaders, as well as other industry representatives, many of whom already serve on the committee. Obama aims to nominate the following individuals:

President Barack Obama needs to hammer home the need to remove Indian non-tariff barriers for U.S. exports when the Indian head of government comes to Washington, D.C. in the coming days, business leaders said in a Sept. 25 letter. After taking office in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Sept. 29 (here).

President Barack Obama signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2015, H.J.Res.124 (here), on Sept. 19, following days of debate on the measure in the House and Senate. The law provides government funding through Dec. 11, authorizes the training and equiping of Syrian rebel groups and extends the Export-Import Bank charter through June 2015. Both chambers of Congress are now in recess through the mid-term elections in November.