[author: Jordan Shepherd]

On January 12, President Obama delivered his seventh and final State of the Union Address to Congress and the American people. Among the many topics that he raised in this annual speech were two trade-related priorities that may directly impact manufacturers in the United States: passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and lifting the trade embargo against Cuba.

With respect to the TPP, President Obama pointed to the agreement’s promise not only to open markets in the twelve partner countries across the Pacific Rim (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and the United States), but also to positively impact other trade-related issues that are not covered in the World Trade Organization’s agreements or traditional free trade agreements, such as labor and environmental issues. President Obama pointed to the importance of ratifying this agreement to demonstrate U.S. leadership on trade in the Asia-Pacific region as a counterbalance to Chinese influence there.

With respect to the Cuba embargo, President Obama noted that a policy of isolation of Cuba has not promoted democracy and that promoting democracy in Latin America, in addition to increasing travel and commercial opportunities between Americans and Cubans, motivated the decision to restore diplomatic relations. Because congressional action is required to lift the trade embargo, President Obama called on Congress to “lift the embargo.” President Obama stressed the importance of lifting the embargo to allow for stronger and more effective U.S. leadership in the Latin American region.

Since this address by the President, the executive branch has taken steps to further increase ties between the countries, including issuing new regulations from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, set to enter into force on January 27, 2016, which remove some restrictions on the payment and financing of authorized exports and re-exports of Cuban (non-agricultural) products. Some travel restrictions were also lifted, although tourist travel remains banned.

Some lawmakers pointed to the lack of applause or standing ovations regarding TPP as indicative of lack of congressional support for this initiative. Others, however, saw the lack of response as merely a sign that many members of Congress are still reviewing the agreement, the text of which was released on November 5, 2015, with the final legally scrubbed text only being released on January 26, 2016. The twelve partners reportedly are scheduled to sign the agreement in New Zealand on February 4, 2016.

While congressional action on both issues has been limited, President Obama has the remaining year of his term to continue these efforts to expand opportunities for U.S. manufacturers in both the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions.