<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=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; border: none; padding: 0in;"><b 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></b></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 22pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Trump talks NAFTA with GOP senators as lawmakers grow warier about withdrawal<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">December 05, 2017<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">While President Trump on Tuesday met with GOP senators to hear their concerns about NAFTA, a meeting that “pleased” one senator who is particularly concerned about agriculture, lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned Trump may soon issue a withdrawal notice as a negotiating tactic -- especially now that he appears close to a legislative “win” on tax reform.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), one of the six Republicans who met with Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the White House, deferred to the president when asked about withdrawal but said she would continue to weigh in.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“That’s up to the president to discuss that; all we can do is inform him on how important agriculture is,” Ernst told <i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> Tuesday afternoon. “We’re still in discussions and so I just keep emphasizing to the president the importance of trade as it applies to agriculture so we’ll continue having discussions. I am pleased the president was willing to sit down and visit with us, but we remain committed to strong agricultural trade.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a frequent critic of the president who also met with him on Tuesday, told <i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> it was a “good” meeting and that the president “heard strong opinions” from the lawmakers. When asked about the possibility of withdrawal, he said “I never liked withdrawal so I don’t want to speak for the president; we certainly voiced our opposition to it.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Others are not so sanguine. A senator told<i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""> Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> in recent days that the president was likely to trigger the withdrawal process after the sixth round of talks concludes at the end of January “because I think he will see it as the only way to break through kind of a negotiating impasse.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">But, the senator said on Dec. 1, Lighthizer has made clear a decision to withdraw, or not, will not be his to make, even if only as a negotiating tactic.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“When I said 'you can’t do this because it would be disruptive in and of itself' he said 'that’s not in his pay grade,'” the senator said of a recent discussion. “He’s saying 'it doesn’t do any good to convince me not to do it. You have to convince the White House.'”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) is also “<a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/161200" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">very nervous</span></a>,” he said last week, “when every indication seems to me to be that the administration is going to terminate NAFTA, then indicate that they have six months before it actually expires to get a better deal. In other words, using it as leverage.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">In addition to Trump and Lighthizer, White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn and Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short participated in the meeting this week with Ernst, Flake and Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), Deb Fischer (NE), Cory Gardner (CO) and Lindsey Graham (SC).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">None of the senators sit on the Finance panel that has jurisdiction over trade.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Finance member Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), who also chairs the Senate Agriculture committee, told <i class="">Inside U.S. Trade</i> on Tuesday that he remained “concerned with the overall policy with regards to trade and the proposition that we could start the clock on NAFTA without any repercussions</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> throughout not only the farm economy but everywhere -- that could trigger a recession in farm country and then as well as other parts of the economy as well.”<br class=""><br class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Ahead of the Tuesday meeting, Trump noted the complicated time frame the negotiators are operating under, saying it was “not easy to have an election coming up so we'll see how that plays. But it's going to be very successful.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Mexico is set to hold a presidential election next July. That election, as well as U.S. midterms later in 2018, have driven the time line for talks to date. Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S., Gerónimo Gutiérrez, this week put the chances of a NAFTA withdrawal at “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexican-ambassador-50-50-odds-nafta-will-be-terminated/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">about 50-50</span></a>” and said he was “moderately optimistic we can in fact reach an agreement in the next few months.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Flake, before the meeting on Tuesday, told<i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""> Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> it would focus on lawmakers’ worries about NAFTA. He said the senators “have been wanting to get together” with the president on this issue.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Asked whether he believes a withdrawal from the agreement would be more likely after tax reform legislation was passed, Flake said “I don’t know; we’ll get a better sense after today.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“We ought to keep it; mend it, don’t end it. That’s our view,” he added. Flake said he did not know whether Lighthizer agreed with that view.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">A White House official said Tuesday’s meeting was “the result of a request from this group of Senators to discuss trade priorities and their shared goal of American economic dominance and, as a result, immense job creation. The administration looks forward to further cooperation with members of Congress in order to make this vision a reality.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Roberts, asked last week about the status of NAFTA talks and the likelihood of a withdrawal notice, said he has had “I don’t know how many people in my office asking me the same question.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“And I always talk to Mr. Lighthizer and I really think that we have to just get this settled so we have some consistency and predictability cause there’s people making plans now in case that the clock would start moving,” he said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The Agriculture Committee chairman last spoke to the president about the trade pact with Mexico and Canada in late November, he said, when Trump attended the Republican caucus luncheon and Roberts told him U.S. farmers were “a little worried about NAFTA.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“I didn’t say ‘don’t start the clock’ or anything else, and he said ‘I’ll get back to you,’” Roberts said. “So I hope he will.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Roberts also said he recommended to Lighthizer that he call members of the Agriculture Committee and said the USTR has done so with “quite a few” of them.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“So that’s a good thing,” Roberts added, “but he’s still wrapped around the axle. If you’re going to do a trade agreement that ought to be terminated in five years, if you do that you’re going to have many agreements.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Roberts’ counterpart in the House, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX), told<i class=""> Inside U.S. Trade</i> last week that “the president's talking” about withdrawal, “but he's a negotiator, and he's negotiated a whole lot more deals than I've ever even thought about, and so I'm not going to second-guess him.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Conaway met with Lighthizer on Nov. 30 said the USTR has a “tough job to get this thing renegotiated on a timely basis.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“I'm not in on the details of what's going on, but he knows that he's got a clear understanding of how important trade is to production agriculture and that side of it and understands the anxiety that many folks are feeling, and so I trust Lighthizer to be doing the right thing.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">He also communicated with him “how important it is that he not swap agricultural interests for those other things, and he certainly understands that,” Conaway said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">U.S. officials at the fifth round of talks in Mexico City showed frustration with what they perceived as a lack of engagement by Canada and Mexico. One official said the president was <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/161092" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">willing to follow through on his promise to end NAFTA</span></a> if the other countries showed no appetite to seriously negotiate -- particularly on contentious proposals like automotive rules of origin -- by the next round, at the end of January.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Negotiators will sit down next week in Washington, DC, for an intersessional meeting that will not involve Lighthizer or his counterparts.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The senator who spoke on background also noted that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue recently claimed the U.S. was working on a contingency plan should the president decide to issue the notice.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Perdue would soon walk back those comments, saying on Nov. 11 “<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/videos/money/agriculture/2017/11/10/ag.-secretary-talks-nafta-contingency-plan-premature/107533104/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">I was probably prematurely thinking out loud</span></a>, as a planner.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“I think it’s my responsibility to think about what-if kind of scenarios when I talked about contingency plans for that. I want to make the administration aware that there could be some devastating commodity price changes if NAFTA is not renegotiated and we need to be prepared to deal with that because we would need a more effective safety net for farmers if we lose our trade to Mexico and Canada,” Perdue said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The senator told <i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> the agriculture secretary walked back those comments “because he didn’t want to send the wrong signal” -- and said that despite Perdue’s statement, “I think there is a contingency plan. I think he’s preparing it.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">“I just want to get to the point where there is enough pressure on the administration not to issue the notice,” the senator added.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">USDA did not respond to a request for comment on Perdue’s remarks or whether the department has embarked on a contingency plan.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">While Trump was meeting with a small number of GOP senators at the White House, Vice President Mike Pence attended the Republican caucus luncheon at the Capitol.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sources told <i class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></i> that stakeholders and members of Congress have been increasingly reaching out to Pence because they feel their concerns have not been heard by USTR.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">The sources said Pence is telling those worried about the administration’s trade agenda and its approach to NAFTA that nothing will happen while the tax reform debate is going on. After that, however, many private-sector and congressional sources say the direction is unclear.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) noted on Tuesday that tax reform “is not done -- we’re going to get it done.” When asked how the issue might impact the NAFTA talks, Toomey added, “I don’t know what the president’s plans are.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class="">“But NAFTA is enormously helpful to the American economy and we need to keep it in place,” Toomey said.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div></body></html>