<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 style="border-style: none none solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-width: 1pt; padding: 0in 0in 3pt; background-color: white;" class=""><h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; border: none; padding: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" class="">Inside US Trade<o:p class=""></o:p></span></h3></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 22pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Neal: Ross told lawmakers administration will trigger NAFTA consultations 'around March 15'<o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">March 02, 2017<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this week informed House Ways & Means Democrats that the Trump administration in mid-March will formally notify Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, ranking member Richard Neal (D-MA) and other panel Democrats told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“He made it clear, sometime around March 15th we'll be formally notified, that will commence the 90-day review period,” Neal said of the Feb. 28 meeting with Ross. “I think it was pretty clear they were going to be very aggressive in the renegotiation of NAFTA.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Reps. Sandy Levin (D-MI), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Ron Kind (D-WI) and Neal all described the meeting as “good” and “very productive,” but said they do not believe the sit-down with Ross fulfills a consultation requirement under the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority law before the administration can move forward with the official talks.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">They said Ross did not offer details on negotiating objectives for the NAFTA talks, which the administration is required to provide to Congress when formally notifying lawmakers of its intent to initiate trade negotiations.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“We don't have at this point a layout of what the administration would be requesting” from Canada and Mexico, Levin told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em>, adding that President Trump's trade team is “nowhere near” formulating the required objectives.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Written notification to the Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees will trigger a 90-day consultation period before negotiations start. The TPA law spells out that the notice shall include “specific United States objectives for the negotiations,” and says that 30 days before negotiations begin the administration has to make public a “detailed and comprehensive summary of the specific objectives.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“It's certainly one of their first priorities now that he's in place, but we didn't get a clear sense of what they hope to accomplish yet with any renegotiation,” Kind, who in the last Congress chaired the New Democratic Coalition, told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“We tried to get clarification what they meant by trying to renegotiate NAFTA and I had a chance to impress upon him that before they start recreating the wheel that they take a glance at what was already negotiated in TPP that Mexico was agreeing to already,” Kind said, adding that Ross “didn't have much of a response to that.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">He said he would be surprised if the administration were to send the notice this month because “they're still trying to put their trade team together and they're still trying to establish that hierarchy.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“Quite frankly they're still trying to put together their goals and objectives as to what NAFTA renegotiation actually means, so two weeks seems to be a very short period of time to expect all that to get resolved,” Kind added.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell noted that the law requires “close consultations” with Congress and said that as the ranking member of the trade subcommittee he would push for that.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“I think that will be a test run whether this administration meets what it says in terms of consultations,” Pascrell told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em>. “It remains to be seen whether USTR will be driving the renegotiation or whether Ross will be steering trade policy going forward.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">He said Ross assured him “that they'd be following the limits of the statutory powers” on trade negotiations, adding, “I have to take secretary at his word right now – why would I not?”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Meanwhile, Neal said Ross “made it pretty clear that he's still the overseer of trade practices.”</span><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Kind noted that the language in TPA “is more geared toward [the U.S. Trade Representative] initiating and taking the lead in the notification requirement attached to that.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">President Trump's pick for USTR, Robert Lighthizer, is still awaiting a confirmation hearing.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“So if Ross out of Commerce will be taking the lead, do they presume that that applies to Commerce then and to him specifically as far as notification? We're looking for greater clarification on that,” he said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell said there is “danger” in using “a different protocol when you begin to renegotiate NAFTA with Ross” because “that is a new protocol for us; we usually talk to trade representative.” But, Pascrell added, Ross assured him that he will collaborate with the USTR.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Sources said the language in TPA does not require the USTR to conduct consultations but said it is the usual process because outlining the specific objectives requires the skill set of USTR staff. The law, however, does require the USTR to be the lead U.S. negotiator in trade agreements.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Levin said he is “not sure” whether discussing NAFTA with Ross “meets the formal requirements” that would allow the administration to move the process forward and said he thinks the USTR “has to be an active participant.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“My guess is that regardless of all the speculation that all of them will participate. I think USTR should be in a lead position, but Commerce has participated before,” Levin said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ross “thinks that the meeting with us maybe triggers this negotiation,” but Kind said he got the impression it was “more a get-to-know-you meeting.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“I don't think there was any real up-front discussion about 'this constitutes consultations under TPA – buckle up.'”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Ross told Bloomberg this week that the administration is “in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/157748" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">consultations</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>with the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee now,” adding: “That's the first step. Ultimately there'll be a 90-day note issued, and that is what will really kick off the negotiations.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">TPA also requires that the administration, “before and after submission of the notice, consult regarding the negotiations” with the committees of jurisdiction and the “House Advisory Group on Negotiations and the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations.” Also, “upon request of a majority of the members of either” advisory group, the president “shall meet with the requesting congressional advisory group before initiating the negotiations or at any other time concerning the negotiations.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Sources said meetings with those groups and the Senate Finance Committee have not been scheduled yet, which could put the mid-March time line in jeopardy.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Finance Committee members this week echoed their House colleagues' assessment that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/157742" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">more details on the U.S. negotiating objectives for NAFTA talks are needed</span></a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) told<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on March 2 that meetings with White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro did not provide lawmakers with enough information.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“We just have to keep working at it, which I intend to do,” he said. “I know that they're a long way down the road. I'm not sure that they're ready to negotiate that with us at this point.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Hatch said his committee will “certainly” schedule a meeting with Ross.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">Sources said it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress would reject the formal notice of a Republican president, but Levin made clear the notice needs to meet the statutory requirements.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class="">“They have to send us something meaningful,” he said. “Sure, we could object. Let's just see.” –<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Jenny Leonard</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""> </span></i></span>(<a href="mailto:jleonard@iwpnews.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">jleonard@iwpnews.com</span></a>)<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Dotum, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></body></html>