<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=""><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;" class="">Two articles below</span><font face="Times New Roman, serif" size="3" class=""><span style="font-weight: normal;" class="">…</span></font></i></h1><div class=""><i class=""><font face="Times New Roman, serif" size="3" class=""><span style="font-weight: normal;" class=""><br class=""></span></font></i></div><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;" class=""><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/mitch-mcconnell-no-vote-on-trumps-nafta-replacement-until-2019.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/mitch-mcconnell-no-vote-on-trumps-nafta-replacement-until-2019.html</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Mitch McConnell says a vote on Trump's NAFTA replacement won't happen until next year<br class=""><br class=""></span></h1><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;" class="">By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/mike-calia/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class="">Mike Calia</span></a><br class=""></span></h1><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;" class="">10/16/2018<o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;" class=""> </span></h1><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that a vote on Trump's NAFTA replacement won't come until 2019, potentially setting up a showdown with Democrats if, as expected, they win a majority in the House.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The U.S., Mexico and Canada reached an 11th-hour deal late last month to keep much of the old North American Free Trade Agreement alive, with a few distinct changes.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The updated pact, which is now called the USMCA, still needs to be approved by each nation's legislatures.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The Senate's top Republican said Tuesday that a vote on President Donald Trump's NAFTA replacement won't come until 2019, potentially setting up a showdown with Democrats if, as expected, they win a majority in the House.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"That'll be a next year issue," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-16/mcconnell-says-senate-vote-on-new-nafta-deal-to-wait-until-2019" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class="">told Bloomberg News</span></a>, citing procedural issues. "There's no question this will be on the top of the agenda."<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Indeed, the legislative calendar for the rest of the year is tight. Lawmakers are campaigning for re-election ahead of next month's midterm election. Several other pressing issues await senators when they get back for the lame-duck session after the election, such as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/28/looming-expiration-of-farm-bill-raises-risks-for-trade-promotion.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class="">the farm bill</span></a> and another deadline to fund the government.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The U.S., Mexico and Canada reached an 11th-hour deal late last month to keep much of the old North American Free Trade Agreement alive, with a few distinct changes. The updated pact, which is now called the USMCA, still needs to be approved by each nation's legislatures.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Some Republicans had been pushing for a vote on the deal this year, but it was always unlikely given the remaining priorities for this congressional term.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Democrats have been largely supportive of keeping NAFTA in place. Yet, if the party takes power in the House, its members could push for concessions and complicate the approval process. The GOP, meanwhile, is expected to hold onto or expand its slight majority in the Senate.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Key Republicans have also suggested that the refreshed trade agreement needs improvement. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/gop-sen-pat-toomey-congress-may-be-able-to-fix-new-trump-nafta-deal.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class="">told CNBC earlier this month</span></a> "there's a possibility that we could address some of these what I consider flaws in the implementing legislation that Congress has to pass."<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Even though the USMCA isn't officially in place, that hasn't stopped Trump from touting it on the campaign trail, particularly as he seeks to limit the political damage wrought by his tariffs and trade conflict with China and other nations.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"NAFTA has been one of the great disasters of all time and now we have a great and fair deal. We have a fair deal," the president said at <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/trump-rallies-for-house-republicans-in-midterms-in-minnesota-kansas-iowa.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class="">a rally earlier this month in Minnesota</span></a>.</div></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><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=""><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcconnell-usmca-free-trade-vote-1.4864887" style="color: purple;" class="">https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcconnell-usmca-free-trade-vote-1.4864887</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><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=""><b class="">No chance Congress will vote on USMCA this year, Mitch McConnell says<o:p class=""></o:p></b></span></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: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The free trade deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico that leaders from all three countries agreed to in principle recently is a ways away from becoming law, as the man in charge of the U.S. Senate says there's no chance lawmakers will vote on the pact before next year.<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=""><br 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="">Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday that there's no chance the logistics can be worked out to ensure that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement — or USMCA — will make it to the floor of either the Senate or House of Representatives before the end of the year, so it can be ratified by lawmakers.<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=""><br 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="">The statements come against the backdrop of U.S. midterms next month, elections that could see the Democrats take back one or both arms of the federal government.<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=""><br 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="">Voting soon would allow the vote to go ahead while Republicans still control both arms of the U.S. Congress and theoretically support the agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump.<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=""><br 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="">While many Democrats have expressed support for free trade with Canada, the temptation to throw a wrench into the works of a policy that Trump is already claiming as a political win may be too great.<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=""><br 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="">"That will be a next-year issue because the process we have to go through doesn't allow that to come up before the end of this year," McConnell told the U.S. news agency.<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=""><br 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="">"There's no question this will be on the top of the agenda," next year, the Kentucky Republican added.<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=""><br 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="">Last week, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn, had said it was "unlikely" the Senate would be able to vote in the final weeks of 2018. Some industry leaders had held out slim hope that a deal could still be approved this year.<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=""><br 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="">The final details of the agreement have yet to be worked out, and trade officials are hoping to have the specifics ironed out by the end of November, which would have made the timeline to ratify a deal in 2018 extremely tight to begin with.<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=""><br 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="">Mexico is on track for its new legislature to ratify the deal in December, and the Canadian government is planning to put the trade pact to a vote next year too.<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=""><br 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="">But any possible delays out of the U.S. are more significant since the U.S. was the part of the triumvirate pushing for a new deal to replace NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) in the first place.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div></body></html>