<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="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; orphans: 2; widows: 2; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase;" class=""><font color="#888888" class=""><b class="">INSIDE US TRADE</b></font></span></div><div style="orphans: auto; widows: auto; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 22pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">After ‘excellent’ meeting with USTR, Pascrell weighs prospects for USMCA</span></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; line-height: 19.5pt; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-weight: normal;" class="">November 16, 2018 at 4:08 PM</span><span style="font-size: 22pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">After speaking with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said the two were on the same page on changes that must be made for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to receive support from Democrats.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">“It was excellent -- we mostly talked about NAFTA and our procedures and the time element -- the time factor,” Pascrell told </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">. “He knows -- I’ve laid [my principles] out to him as well as to the International Trade Commission. I laid out my principles a year ago and we are going to stick to those principles. Lighthizer has no problem with those principles.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Lighthizer has said he expected congressional Democrats to be in favor of deal he negotiated.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">According to Pascrell, Democratic votes will be cast in favor of the deal only “if our principles are responded to in a tangible way.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell has called for the inclusion of enforceable labor and environmental provisions in the new pact as well as language addressing currency manipulation, among other requests. In <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/164561" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">an Oct. 1 statement</span></a> on the deal, he said he would be focused on “whether this agreement holds out the promise for creating jobs and raising wages for Mexican and American workers.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">“I am not interested in supporting a new deal that has all of the flaws of the old deal baked into it,” he said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">The lawmaker, who is the ranking member of the House Ways & Means trade subcommittee, <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/164937" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">is vying</span></a> to chair the panel in the 116th Congress. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ron Kind (D-WI) may also be considering the position, </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> has learned. Both have been critical of the Trump administration’s trade policies, especially the imposition of tariffs.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Blumenauer has been pushing Democratic leaders to create a new infrastructure financing subcommittee, a Democratic source told </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade. </span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Asked on Friday if Blumenauer was interested in chairing the trade subcommittee, the source said “we will have to see how things shake out.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell’s discussion with USTR followed his <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/165013" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Nov. 15 testimony</span></a> before the U.S. International Trade Commission, where the lawmaker asked commissioners weighing the economic impacts of USMCA to carefully examine key provisions. Specifically, he questioned how the deal would impact the U.S. manufacturing sector and “integrated supply chains therein,” as well as whether companies will “continue to be incentivized to offshore jobs in search of lower-wage labor under the new agreement.” He also asked the ITC to pinpoint any “new export opportunities” the deal would provide to U.S. businesses and what “if any, imports can be expected to increase as a result of this agreement.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Pascrell, on Friday, told </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> the “biggest thing I am concerned about” is “getting the implementing language” for the deal in place -- legislation that many Democrats have pointed to as a vehicle to address their concerns about the deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">The congressional countdown to a USMCA vote is initiated by the president submitting to Congress -- on a day when the House and Senate are in session -- a draft implementing bill and a statement of administrative action, along with supporting information. Once the draft implementing bill is submitted, the House Ways & Means Committee is required to vote on it within 45 session days. The House must act within 15 session days of the committee vote. The Senate Finance Committee is required to vote on the bill within 15 session days of the House vote, and the Senate must act within 15 session days of the Finance Committee decision.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">In September, several Democrats on the House Ways & Means Committee said the earliest Congress <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/164513" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">was likely to vote</span></a> on USMCA was February or March.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) said on Friday that she was concerned about the cultural carveout Canada won in USMCA, which is aimed at protecting Canadian creative industries. Asked whether she would vote for USMCA, Chu told </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade </span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">she was “disturbed” by the exemption, reiterating concerns she voiced after <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/164513" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">a Sept. 27 meeting</span></a> with Lighthizer.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">But Craig Albright, vice president of legislative strategy at BSA | The Software Alliance, said after meetings with both parties on Capitol Hill he was confident the deal would receive broad support. “We think significant votes will be there and it would be great to get it done early,” he told </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade.</span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">“This agreement will probably have a little bit of a different coalition than [FTAs have] had in the past. There are some elements of the agreement that are new and unique and will include support from some groups that have had concerns about trade in the past. There is a real opportunity to maybe even have a broader group of members of congress supporting the agreement,” he said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">And while the Democrats “may have questions,” Albright continued, “what we are hearing is we expect there will be a number of Dems who will be supportive of the agreement.” -- </span><em class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Isabelle Hoagland </span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" class="">(<a href="mailto:ihoagland@iwpnews.com" style="color: purple;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">ihoagland@iwpnews.com</span></a>)<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 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></body></html>