<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="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><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="field-content"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">U.S. will send its ambassador to Chile to trade summit<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="field-content"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">March 7, 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="">The U.S. will be represented at a trade summit in Chile next week by Carol Perez, the U.S. ambassador to the country, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.<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 March 14-15 “High-level Dialogue in Integration Initiatives in the Asia-Pacific Region: Challenges and Opportunities” will include all signatories of the Trans-Pacific Partnership plus China, South Korea and Colombia.<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 U.S. had been expected by some observers to send the acting USTR.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Perez, a career member of the Foreign Service, was confirmed by the Senate in July 2016 as ambassador to Chile, according to the State Department. She took office in September.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">A private-sector source closely following trade issues called the pick “disappointing,”<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 point is to demonstrate continued interest in regional economic architecture so the southeast Asians don’t think we’re abandoning them,” the source said, adding that sending an ambassador “doesn't punch that ticket.”<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Instead, the source said, the U.S. should dispatch someone from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>