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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">White House prepares sweeping review of trade deals</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">By Josh Dawsey and Megan Cassella<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">03/20/2017 06:45 PM EDT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">The White House is preparing to order a review of all U.S. trade deals, senior administration officials say, as they seek better terms and aim to fulfill a campaign
promise from President Donald Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">Trump is expected to sign an executive order on reviewing all trade deals, formalizing an administration pledge to reexamine all agreements between the United States
and its trading partners. White House press secretary Sean Spicer <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d50c1c1c80f9886cf15f261afd727985eab900373ff73126338e74d739d8356f7127898958e35022e63585286b4253ad74d18cffbaa3238dc19b863150ca09e" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">said</span></a> in
late January that would be the administration’s “No. 1” trade priority, adding the goal would be to “figure out if we can improve them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">"NAFTA Is going to be at the top of the list," one senior administration official said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">An administration official said the White House is seeking to talk more about trade amid other damaging story lines. "We think it's a place where the president can
really shine." The executive order is largely symbolic for now, one official cautioned, but puts in place the movement to change the deals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">That means a close examination of 14 agreements that are currently in place: two regional deals, one with North American countries and another with Central American
countries plus the Dominican Republic; and a dozen bilateral deals with countries across Asia, South America, the Middle East and Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">The senior administration official said the administration's goal is to review how the internet has changed the terms of agreements, and how the countries have changed
their production in recent years, while examining the country's imports and exports. "We think we have the leverage to make these deals better," one administration official said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">But it will be difficult to change terms and agreements with countries in deals that have already been struck, experts say, and the administration could face backlash.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">Inside the administration, officials have been split on trade, with some officials like Steve Bannon, the president's chief strategist, and other officials like Gary
Cohn, one of the president's top economic advisers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">The administration is also planning to push Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, which aims to limit the purchase of goods manufactured abroad and the
use of foreign workers. The goal of a separate executive order, which is also expected to be signed in the next few weeks, per administration officials, is to review procurement processes in a bid to change them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">The new executive order could win him some unlikely allies: progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill, who have been pushing Trump to suspend and renegotiate the procurement
provisions of trade deals, which allow foreign companies to bid on U.S. government contracts. Sens. <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d50c1c1c80f9886b1dba1d0db90ec5758701f7217a7a05c60221f25ef90b9b931355a3bdd085d1d86c2b7b53b5786370d3eaa945bc548abd06b422aae8970e2" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">Tammy
Baldwin</span></a> and <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d50c1c1c80f9886f971ee29cc6191b540d9c72567a0e04c52dc1bdff1597119301a84d2460f210181686f8ae6fac38ec74c0cb7c8452c86da5c3654c6710979" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">Jeff Merkley</span></a>,
for example, just last week wrote to the president to argue that without action on procurement “every government contract [the] administration signs risks sending hardworking Americans’ tax dollars abroad.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">"Removing such terms from agreements such as [NAFTA] is an important step to trying to reverse our large trade deficits and provide more demand for U.S. made manufactured
goods,” they wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">Such a move would also come as welcome news for labor groups like the AFL-CIO, which <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d50c1c1c80f9886de29aad41e546e56e6c43d2f4a2af5320b7e8bd132c1d4ce21b4dab565bd2b6c630329412e3358b532cbc039ba0af18e822fe7d864efd004" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">recommended </span></a>in
December that any renegotiation of NAFTA should include the wholesale deletion of the pact’s procurement chapter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">But the tighter restrictions are likely to anger U.S. trading partners, who say dictating procurement decisions for private companies violates international obligations
under NAFTA and the WTO. Government procurement comprises between 10 and 15 percent of a country’s GDP, according to an estimate from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, creating a sizable industry that nations are eager to tap into abroad and protect
at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">The conflict at issue was on display last week when Canada’s ambassador to the United States, David MacNaughton, wrote to a group of senators including Baldwin and
Merkley to defend Canada’s open procurement system, arguing it represents principles “that Canada and the United States have together championed for decades.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"">"Imposing local content requirements on the purchasing decisions of private companies is unprecedented and would have potentially severe and wide-ranging consequences,
including vis-a-vis international trade obligations,” MacNaughton wrote. “Open procurement markets create jobs in both of our economies, opportunities for our businesses and value for our government agencies."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">Michael F. Dolan, J.D.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">Legislative Representative<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">International Brotherhood of Teamsters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">Desk 202.624.6891<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">Fax 202.624.8973<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Bell MT","serif"">Cell 202.437.2254<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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