<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="">Politico Pro<o:p class=""></o:p></div><h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Ross says renegotiating NAFTA will be first trade priority<o:p class=""></o:p></h3><p class="byline" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">By <span class="vcard"><a href="https://www.politicopro.com/staff/doug-palmer" target="_top" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Doug Palmer</a></span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Commerce Secretary-designate Wilbur Ross said today the Trump administration would focus first on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement before looking around the world for new trade agreements.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"We ought to solidify relationships in the best way we can in our own territory before we go off to other jurisdictions," Ross said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on his nomination. "So I think that should be, and hopefully will be if I'm confirmed, a very, very early topic in this administration."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Ross' remarks seemed to downplay the prospect of the Trump administration moving quickly to negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement with the United Kingdom, as Trump recently said he planned to do despite the view of many experts that negotiations with London can't formally begin until the U.K. redefines its relationship with the European Union, which it has voted to leave.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The billionaire businessman also said China would be a primary focus of the incoming administration, consistent with remarks that Trump made during the campaign.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"China is the most protectionist country of very large countries. They have both very high tariff barriers and very high non-tariff trade barriers," Ross said. "They talk much more about free trade than they actually practice. We would like to levelize that playing field and bring the realities a bit closer to the rhetoric."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>