<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=""><br class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="2" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; width: 650px;" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""></font></span><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""></font></span><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""></font></span><table border="0" cellpadding="5" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Wednesday, August 16, 2017</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Contact: Jonathon Berman, <a href="mailto:jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org" target="_blank" class="">jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org</a></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><a href="https://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/08/despite-public-promises-trump-nafta-renegotiation-begins-behind-closed-doors" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">View as webpage</span></a></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Despite Public Promises from Trump, NAFTA Renegotiation Begins Behind Closed Doors</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">WASHINGTON, D.C.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> -- Today, Trump administration negotiators met behind closed doors with representatives from the Mexico and Canada to begin the first round of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The U.S. public has not been allowed to see or comment on any U.S. textual proposals that may be tabled this week, despite NAFTA’s impacts’ on jobs and wages, air and water, and health. The Trump administration decided to eliminate standard opportunities for stakeholder engagement during this week’s closed-door talks. Throughout his candidacy, Trump proclaimed he would “announce” plans to “totally renegotiate” NAFTA on “day one” of his presidency. Today is the 207th day of his presidency</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">While the Trump administration negotiates in secret in Washington, labor, environmental, and government leaders -- including Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) -- </span><a href="http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/12627131-74/sen-robert-casey-will-meet-this-morning-at-the-usw-headquarters-in" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">held a public forum today</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> in Pittsburgh to make clear that NAFTA must be renegotiated openly, by and for the American people.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Prior to today, Trump and his administration have failed to provide concrete details on their plans for renegotiation, instead, offering a series of conflicting vague remarks. In May, the administration sent a roughly one-page formal notification to Congress which offered no specifics. This was preceded by a longer proposal in March that </span><a href="http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/03/trump-nafta-renegotiation-draft-notice-exposes-all-talk-no-action-plan" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">revealed</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> plans to keep many of NAFTA’s most damaging elements intact. In July, the administration released vague negotiating objectives that </span><a href="http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/07/trumps-promised-nafta-plan-keeps-workers-and-communities-dark" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">suggested</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> a copy and paste of provisions from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal that Trump claimed to hate. </span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute issued a one-pager urging the Trump administration to keep perhaps the most controversial part of NAFTA, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system in NAFTA 2.0. This provision allows multinational corporations like ExxonMobil to bypass our courts, go to private tribunals, and demand money from taxpayers for policies that affect corporate bottom lines. The oil and gas lobby has also called for new NAFTA provisions that could spur increased build-out of oil and gas pipelines, fracking, and offshore drilling.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">In contrast, the Sierra Club and other leading environmental groups have </span><a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/NAFTA%20Enviro%20Redlines%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">released eight specific and fundamental changes to NAFTA</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> that must be included in any replacement deal.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Leading the talks on behalf of the administration today is John Melle, a nearly 30-year employee at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and currently the assistant U.S. trade representative for the Western Hemisphere. Melle joined the USTR in 1988 -- three years before NAFTA negotiations began -- and has held various positions, including overseeing NAFTA’s implementation. In a 2006 congressional </span><a href="https://ustr.gov/archive/assets/Document_Library/USTR_Testimony/2006/asset_upload_file478_9437.pdf" target="_blank" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">testimony</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">, Melle declared NAFTA a “tremendous success.”</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">In response, Sierra Club Responsible Trade Program Director Ben Beachy released the following statement:</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">"For all his talk of doing trade differently, Donald Trump seems intent on repeating the closed-door negotiating process that produced NAFTA in the first place. We’ve seen how corporations hijack secret trade negotiations to pad their profits at the expense of good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities. If Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 becomes another backroom deal by and for corporations, vigorous opposition will be predictable and merited.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">“So far Trump’s plan for NAFTA is a bunch of vague tweaks that actually look like a copy and paste of the TPP, a deal that Trump claimed to hate. If Trump intends to use NAFTA 2.0 to revive the TPP, he should expect to revive the same movement of millions that defeated the deal in the first place. </span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">“The Sierra Club calls on Donald Trump to prove to the American people who he’s working for: them or corporate polluters. With today’s NAFTA talks shrouded in secrecy and an administration stocked with corporate polluters, we have a good idea of the answer. ”</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span id="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685docs-internal-guid-1bfb7055-ebf1-623b-a412-e67a258f0db7" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">###</span></span></div><p class=""><em class=""><u class=""><strong class="">About the Sierra Club</strong></u></em></p><p class=""><em class="">The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.sierraclub.org</a>.</em></p></td></tr><tr class=""><td class=""><table bgcolor="#efefef" border="0" cellpadding="5" style="width: 640px;" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685container" width="100%" style="border-top-width: 8px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td align="center" class=""><table align="center" bgcolor="#efefef" border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><div style="width: 612px; text-align: center;" class=""><a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="https://www.facebook.com/sierraclub" target="_blank"><img alt="Like us on Facebook." border="0" height="19" src="http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe8a1372756c0c7a70/m/1/nat-newsletter-facebook.jpg" width="171" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a><a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TakeAction&s_src=613ZSCZZ01&s_subsrc=button&utm_medium=email&utm_source=insider&utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank"><img alt="Take action with the Sierra Club." border="0" height="19" src="http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe8a1372756c0c7a70/m/1/nat-newsletter-actioncenter.jpg" width="134" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a><a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Signup_Insider&s_src=613ZSCZZ01&s_subsrc=button&utm_medium=email&utm_source=insider&utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank"><img alt="Sign up for the Insider" border="0" height="19" src="http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe8a1372756c0c7a70/m/1/nat-newsletter-getinsider.jpg" width="136" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a><a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="https://twitter.com/sierraclub" target="_blank"><img alt="Follow us on Twitter" border="0" height="19" src="http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe8a1372756c0c7a70/m/1/nat-newsletter-follow-twitter.jpg" width="171" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><p align="center" class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login"><img align="right" src="http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe8f1372746d007871/m/1/SC-Logo_Horiz-Web-Black-150.png" width="150" class="gmail-CToWUd">Sierra Club | 2101 Webster St., Suite 1300 Oakland, CA 94612<br class="">To subscribe, email <a href="mailto:media.assistant@sierraclub.org" target="_blank" class="">media.assistant@sierraclub.org</a><br class=""><a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom" target="_blank">www.sierraclub.org/pressroom</a> |<wbr class=""> <a class="gmail-m_3682556035787449080m_93252733875112685login" href="mailto:sierra.news@sierraclub.org" target="_blank" style="line-height: 20.8px;">sierra.news@sierraclub.org</a></p><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""></font></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br class=""><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""></font></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></body></html>