WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Friday said it would work for approval of politically contentious legislation that would ease the way for new trade deals, as it tries to wrap up talks on an Asia-Pacific free-trade agreement this year.

But the short reference to the legislation known as “trade promotion authority” in an annual report on the president’s trade agenda failed to impress key Republicans who have been pressing for action on the issue for years.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top trade official warned that automatic budgets cuts that start taking effect on Friday could hamper ongoing U.S. trade talks in the Asia-Pacific region and another proposed set of negotiations with the European Union.

“The sequester cuts will add a significant hurdle to these and other efforts to support American jobs by opening markets, including through reduced staffing (and) reduced ability to engage with our trading partners,” said Tim Reif, general counsel with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – A top U.S. trade official
warned that automatic budgets cuts that start taking effect on
Friday could hamper ongoing U.S. trade talks in the Asia-Pacific
region and another proposed set of negotiations with the
European Union.

“The sequester cuts will add a significant hurdle to these
and other efforts to support American jobs by opening markets,
including through reduced staffing (and) reduced ability to
engage with our trading partners,” said Tim Reif, general
counsel with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration said on Wednesday the agency would have
to begin furloughing air traffic controllers in early April
because of a looming $627 million in automatic spending cuts,
while Republican lawmakers argued there were other ways to
handle the budget crunch.

“We’re looking at all options to reduce costs. We’re looking
at a hiring freeze, at cutting contracts and travel and other
items not related to day-to-day operations,” FAA administrator
Michael Huerta told the U.S. House of Representatives
Transportation Committee.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Japan on Friday agreed on language aimed at giving Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe political cover to bring the world’s third-largest economy into negotiations on a U.S.-led free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific region.

In a carefully worded statement following Abe’s meeting with President Barack Obama, the two countries reaffirmed that “all goods would subject to negotiation” if Japan joins the talks with the United States and 10 other countries.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk came into office four years ago, he famously said he did not have a “fever” to negotiate trade deals. But with just a few days left on the job, he sounds like he caught one.

Fresh off a weekend round of golf with his friend President Barack Obama and Tiger Woods, Kirk sounded wistful about leaving when there is hard work to do to finish talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-led free trade pact with 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Faced with what experts say is growing theft of U.S. trade secrets by China and other nations, the White House on Wednesday vowed to protect American businesses and economic security more aggressively and consider tougher laws at home.

The White House did not directly cite China, which many see as the main threat and did not propose new penalties on perpetrators. A study released this week by a private security firm accused the Chinese military of orchestrating numerous cyber attacks against U.S. businesses, a charge Beijing has denied.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said on Wednesday it will step up diplomatic pressure and study whether tougher laws are needed to stop a wave of trade secret theft from China and other countries in a strategy that offered few new ideas for dealing with the threat.

“Trade secret theft threatens American businesses, undermines national security and places the security of the U.S. economy in jeopardy,” the White House said in a report that laid out its strategy. “These acts also diminish U.S. export prospects around the globe and put American jobs at risk.”

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Japan must be willing to
negotiate in all trade sectors, including politically sensitive
ones like rice, if it wants to join the United States and 10
other countries in talks on a regional free-trade pact, the top
U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.

“We aren’t going to begin the process by saying, ‘Oh yeah,
you get to have certain protected sectors or issues,’” U.S.
Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in an interview before
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s meeting with President
Barack Obama on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will tackle the theft of U.S. trade secrets on Wednesday with a new strategy to protect American companies from losing hundreds of billions of dollars in an area of growing concern in relations with China.

“For an economy like ours, that’s going to win based on our innovation of what we produce and create, this is a critically important issue,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in an interview ahead of the event.