<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">INSIDE US TRADE<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">TransCanada to proceed with ISDS case despite Trump's memorandum on Keystone XL<o:p class=""></o:p></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">February 14, 2017 <o:p class=""></o:p></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">TransCanada, the company hoping to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border, will continue to pursue its claim that the Obama administration's rejection of the project was in violation of the U.S.' obligations under NAFTA -- despite the Trump administration's pledge to permit the construction of the controversial pipeline.<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 legal challenges will continue to move forward at this time,” a spokesman from TransCanada said in an email to <em class="">Inside U.S. Trade</em>.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">President Trump on Jan. 24 signed a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/24/presidential-memorandum-regarding-construction-keystone-xl-pipeline" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">presidential memorandum</a> that invited TransCanada to resubmit an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, while also instructing the secretary of State to issue a “final permitting determination, including a final decision as to any conditions on issuance of the permit that are necessary or appropriate to serve the national interest” within 60 days of receiving TransCanada's application.<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 State Department rejected TransCanada's application in November 2014, citing foreign policy goals and environmental and economic reasons.<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 TransCanada claims the decision to reject the KeystoneXL project was a political decision and not based on the merits of its application. It is<a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/151938" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">seeking $15 billion from the U.S. via the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism in NAFTA</a>. The case is listed as “pending” following the appointment of a U.S. arbitrator.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>