Asia/Pacific

A majority of House members have signed a letter calling on the Obama administration to address currency manipulation in Asia-Pacific trade deal negotiations. 

All told, 230 lawmakers sent the bipartisan letter to President Obama on Thursday, eclipsing the 218 threshold needed to pass legislation. 

The group argued that despite U.S. efforts to address currency manipulation in other global arenas, many countries are still undervaluing their currencies, costing jobs and hurting the U.S. economy, which is why the issue needs to be included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

"Exchange rates strongly influence trade flows, and, in recent years, currency manipulation has contributed to the U.S. trade deficit and cost us American jobs," the letter said. 

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NATO laid out its most detailed plans to date Wednesday for a post-2014 training force that would remain in Afghanistan after control of security is handed off to the Afghans.

The United States, Germany and Italy committed to serve as “lead nations” for the training mission, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday said after the conclusion of a NATO meeting in Brussels.

The U.S. military will be the largest contributor, taking the lead in the more volatile eastern and southern regions. Germany and Italy will serve as lead nations in the West and North.

President Obama should press Chinese President Xi Jinping to curb emissions of a short-lived, but highly potent heat-trapping pollutant when the leaders meet this week in California, a group of House and Senate Democrats wrote Wednesday to Obama.

The Democratic lawmakers said Obama should push Xi to join an effort led by the United States, Canada and Mexico to slash production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

“We encourage you to raise HFCs with President Xi and to ask for his support of the North American HFC proposal. This would send a powerful and concrete message about the ability of United States and China to cooperate to address the enormous challenge of climate change,” they said, noting scientists predict HFCs could account for 20 percent of global warming by 2050.

The president is under pressure from both supporters and critics to announce the size of the U.S. force after 2014.

Defense secretary urged China to work with the United States to establish "international norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace."

American officials and beef producers are reveling in a new safety designation for U.S. cattle and see the change as particularly relevant to ongoing Transpacific trade negotiations.

On Wednesday, the Paris-based World Animal Health Organization (OIE) voted to designated the U.S. has having a “negligible risk” for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also know as mad cow disease. This is an upgrade from “controlled risk” status. 

The attack is believed to have killed the No. 2 commander in the Pakistani Taliban.

President Obama will meet with President Xi Jinping of China for the first time next month in California, the White House announced Monday.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet at Sunnylands, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Estate, on June 7 and 8. They're expected to review the U.S.-China bilateral relationship over the past four years and discuss ways to “enhance cooperation, while constructively managing our differences.”

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon will travel to Beijing from May 26 through 28 to prepare for Obama's meeting with Xi, who officially took office in March. The meeting comes amid renewed allegations of Chinese cyber-attacks against the U.S. government and companies.

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Oil-and-gas companies are concerned about reporting requirements for doing business with Burma now that the United States has established relations with the country.

Companies are lobbying the State Department on the reporting issue as the administration works to build diplomatic ties. President Obama on Monday hosted Burmese President Thein Sein at the White House in the latest sign of growing cooperation.

Oil-and gas-firms are interested in buying blocs in the resource-rich Bay of Bengal off of Burma’s western coast. Burma has offered up several plots to European Union bidders in recent auctions, and U.S. firms are also beginning to show interest.

The administration is working with the Pakistani government and companies to keep chemicals from being used to make bombs.