<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-trump-tpp-idUSKBN13A03W?il=0" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-trump-tpp-idUSKBN13A03W?il=0</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="timestamp"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="timestamp">Mon Nov 14, 2016 | 8:14pm EST</span><o:p class=""></o:p></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">U.S. Rep. Brady to push free trade deals with Trump administration<o:p class=""></o:p></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="author">By <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/david-lawder" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">David Lawder</a></span> <span class="divider">|</span><span class="location"> WASHINGTON</span><o:p class=""></o:p></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said on Monday he will continue to promote the benefits of free trade agreements with President-elect Donald Trump, including those offered under the Obama administration's Asian free trade deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Brady, a Republican, who described himself as a "champion of free trade," told a trade and politics forum that Trump will have to set his own priorities for trade, but these should include moves that pave the way for more U.S. exports.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"I hope that he allows us to make the case that to grow our economy, it's just not enough to buy American. We have to sell American all through out the world," U.S. Rep. Brady from Texas said. "These trade agreements, done right, strictly enforced, level that playing field."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Trump said during a grueling campaign that he would scrap President Barack Obama's 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, renegotiate the U.S-Canada-Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and take a much tougher trade stance with China, labeling it a currency manipulator on his first day in office.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Obama had hoped for a vote on TPP in the weeks following the election, but Republican leaders in Congress have torpedoed this effort, leaving TPP's fate up to Trump, who has repeatedly called the deal a "disaster."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Brady said he thought the deal could eventually be resurrected if some provisions were fixed, including clearer protections for biologic drugs patents and financial services. But Trump needs time to set his trade policy priorities, take steps to accelerate economic growth and assess the role of exports in U.S. job creation.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Brady said he will emphasize that the Asia-Pacific market is a critical one for U.S. exporters that will be home to half the world's middle-class consumers by the end of this decade and the United States needs to have equal access to its competitors.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"If we withdraw or abandon that field completely, we lose and China wins in a major way, so my advice to him will be to not to withdraw (from TPP) but to renegotiate," Brady said. "Take the areas that he has real challenges with, make it better."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman at the same forum sponsored by Politico and FedEx Corp, said that the TPP could not move forward before Trump takes office in January without congressional leaders supporting it.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Asked if TPP was dead, Froman said, "I think I prefer the word purgatory."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">But Froman said that USTR would continue to work on broad trade agreements to end tariffs on environmental goods as well as a separate deal liberalizing services trade.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">(Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)</p></body></html>