White House sees trade agenda hurt by spending bill

The White House budget office on Monday said that important elements of the Obama trade agenda could be hurt by budget cuts in the 2012 spending bill that came to the Senate floor on Monday.

The spending bill includes funding for the departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

The bill cuts funding for the Office of U.S. Trade Representative to $46 million from $51 million.

"The funding in the Senate bill would undermine USTR's ability to pursue enforcement cases and participate in trade negotiations like the Trans Pacific Partnership," the administration said as part of its analysis of the bill.

The Trans Pacific Partnership talks are the main item on USTR's agenda. The nine-nation talks include first-ever trade deals with New Zealand, Malaysia and Vietnam and may ultimately include Japan.

The administration is also opposed to a cut to Commerce's International Trade Administration. Obama wants $451 million for ITA but the Senate bill provides $441 million. The administration says its National Export Initiative, which is seeking to double U.S. exports from 2010 to 2012, requires ITA to have its export promotion activities better funded.

Overall, Obama supports passage of the appropriations bill, only the second that the Senate has taken up this year. In its analysis it also objects on constitutional grounds to provisions forbidding the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to the level of funding provided to implement food safety modernization legislation.