<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></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=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/u-s-on-nafta-deal-either-this-month-or-not-this-year-at-all-lighthizer-says-1.23286949" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">http://www.timescolonist.com/u-s-on-nafta-deal-either-this-month-or-not-this-year-at-all-lighthizer-says-1.23286949</a></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">U.S. on NAFTA deal: Either this month, or not this year at all, Lighthizer says<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: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </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: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">By The Canadian Press</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </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: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">MAY 1, 2018 10:53 AM<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Robert Lighthizer made the remarks in a lunchtime discussion at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">He's going to China this week, then meets with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts on May 7.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class="">Lighthizer says that there's probably a week or two to get a deal after that. If it doesn't happen, he says it'll probably be pushed off until after the U.S. midterm elections, and he says a new Congress might have different priorities about what it wants in a deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">He says the NAFTA negotiations are tied to the threat of U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs: the U.S. is threatening to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico by June 1.</p></body></html>