<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Business fears USTR forced labor strategy could mean more tariffs<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Labor and advocacy groups want the administration to leverage the most powerful U.S. legal trade tools to help stop the practice.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">By Doug Palmer<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Politico Pro, 9/22/22<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;" class="">Business groups want U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to tread carefully as her agency formulates its first-ever strategy to combat forced labor, a brutal and dehumanizing existence suffered by an estimated 28 million people around the world.</span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">While many proponents of a tougher U.S. approach advocate increased use of trade actions against products made with forced labor, business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argue the administration should put less emphasis on that.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">“Relevant government agencies should prioritize diplomatic tools and collaboration with industry and partner governments to ensure the absence of forced labor in supply chains,” John Murphy, senior vice president for international policy, said in comments filed with USTR. “Import restrictions, whether via a USTR-led trade agreement or CBP enforcement actions, should be a last resort, not the primary tool.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">The comment is among dozens that hope to shape the Biden administration's forthcoming strategy. While business groups urge caution to avoid unintended consequences for legitimate commerce, labor and advocacy groups want the administration to leverage some the most powerful U.S. legal trade tools, including tariffs, in order to stop the practice. A public comment period ended in August, with no firm indication of when USTR would unveil its new approach.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Blunt measures won't work:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> The National Foreign Trade Council similarly questioned USTR’s decision to characterize forced labor as “an unfair trade practice,” rather than as a human rights concern, since the former approach could lead to tariffs or other trade restrictions.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">“Increasing tariffs is a blunt, punitive measure that is not constructive for improving the conditions and practices that give rise to forced labor or improving conditions for workers,” the business group wrote. “Moreover, tariffs and import restrictions are imposed on the importer, who may not have sufficient visibility into the product supply chain to satisfy the U.S. government.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Both the Chamber and NFTC emphasized their opposition to forced labor and their desire to work with the Biden administration to end the practice. Now they are waiting along with many others to see final details. Tai announced <a href="https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2022/january/ustr-announces-development-focused-trade-strategy-combat-forced-labor" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2022/january/ustr-announces-development-focused-trade-strategy-combat-forced-labor&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw1O_9IInwwhThgoDWu5R-Kh" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">plans to develop USTR's new strategy</span></a> nearly eight months ago.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">“USTR is currently reviewing comments submitted as we work to develop a strategy to combat forced labor,” USTR spokesperson Sam Michael said. “We are also in touch with relevant stakeholders and interested parties to ensure our strategy can tackle this malicious practice.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Rebuttable presumption:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> In the mean time, the Biden administration has begun enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which effectively bans the importation of any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, based on the presumption they were made with forced labor unless proved otherwise.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Rethink Trade, the advocacy and analysis group led by longtime trade campaigner Lori Wallach, argues the same "rebuttable presumption" should be applied to goods from all "Tier 3" countries in the <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw3d8OfLqBnw6L-AIBVEi8bM" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report</span></a>. That is the most serious designation, reserved for countries whose governments do not fully meet minimum U.S. standards for eliminating human trafficking “and are not making significant efforts to do so,” according to State.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Banning imports of a particular product "until commercial interests can show a clean supply chain is an extremely effective enforcement tool that should be widely adopted," the group wrote.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">IPEF negotiations:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> USTR is finalizing its forced labor strategy at the same time that it has begun trade negotiations with three nations – Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam – that are designated as Tier 3 countries.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam are part of the U.S.-led talks on the 14-nation Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, along with Indonesia which is on the State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List, the report’s second most serious designation.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Asia and the Pacific account for more than half of the world’s victims of forced labor, or 15.1 million, according to <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854733.pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854733.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw1Q9Axxn5OvQPfEf4OeC6py" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">the International Labour Organization’s latest tally,</span></a> which does not list totals for individual countries.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">In one sign of the sensitivity of the issue to countries in the region, the recently <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/IPEF%20Pillar%201%20Ministerial%20Text%20(Trade%20Pillar)_FOR%20PUBLIC%20RELEASE%20(1).pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/IPEF%2520Pillar%25201%2520Ministerial%2520Text%2520(Trade%2520Pillar)_FOR%2520PUBLIC%2520RELEASE%2520(1).pdf&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw09EeShxVoYjQHt4oxZz6Ka" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">agreed negotiating objectives for the IPEF agreement</span></a> do not specifically call for “the elimination of forced labor,” unlike <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/US-Taiwan%20Negotiating%20Mandate%20(Final).pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/US-Taiwan%2520Negotiating%2520Mandate%2520(Final).pdf&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw1hMiOVDqHAgP5ZwptlYYl4" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">the negotiating objectives for a parallel set of talks with Taiwan</span></a>.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">However, USTR downplayed that difference, noting the IPEF objectives refer to participants adopting, maintaining and enforcing national laws based on internationally-recognized labor rights, as contained in the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm&source=gmail&ust=1664031676264000&usg=AOvVaw39aAFkEfnaEh_rSoirQ2Ui" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 123, 199); text-decoration: none;" class="">ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.</span></a><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">That “includes the elimination of all forms of forced labor,” Michael said. “While the issue of forced labor was not specifically mentioned in the ministerial statement, we are not excluding this issue from the negotiation.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Lots of ideas: </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">More than 40 groups and individuals filed comments with USTR, answering a series of questions posed by the agency. The numerous suggestions ranged from working with allies to other more unilateral approaches by the United States.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Here is a sampling:<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Launch 301 investigations:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> The AFL-CIO, in its comments, called on USTR to use its investigative powers under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act to fight forced labor. That particular authority allows the U.S. government to unilaterally impose tariffs on foreign goods and was used by former President Donald Trump to go after China on intellectual property concerns.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Toughen program requirements:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> USTR should work with Congress to incorporate tougher labor eligibility criteria into major U.S. tariff-waiver programs like the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the AFL-CIO said. The current requirement that countries only "take steps to afford" internationally-recognized workers’ rights "is much too weak, allowing countries with abysmal labor rights records to retain benefits,” Cathy Feingold, the group’s international director, wrote.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Pursue civil and criminal penalties:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class=""> The labor federation also called for the administration to pursue civil and criminal penalties against companies that “knew or should have known about forced labor in their supply chains.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Impose countervailing duties: </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">The trade remedy team at the law firm of Wiley Rein recommended USTR launch a Section 301 forced labor investigation against China, and also urged the Commerce Department to begin treating forced labor as a “countervailable subsidy.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">The latter recommendation would allow the department to impose countervailing duties on a case-by-case basis where petitioners can prove the cost of producing an imported good has been reduced due to forced labor.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Rethink Trade picked up on that point, calling it “critical that forced labor be treated as a countervailable subsidy in U.S. trade law.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Use a TIP litmus test: </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, a U.S.-based coalition of human rights and similarly-minded groups, called for greater congressional scrutiny of trade agreements with any countries listed in the Tier 2 Watch List of the Trafficking in Persons report.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Congress passed legislation in 2015 barring the expedited congressional approval of trade deals with any Tier 3 country under a procedure known as “fast track.” ATEST urged Tier 2 Watch List countries to be treated the same way.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">However, that issue may not impact the IPEF negotiations, since the Biden administration does not plan to submit the finished agreement to Congress for approval.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">Duplicate USMCA’s Rapid Response Mechanism: </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">The AFL-CIO said all U.S. trade agreements should require trade partners to enact and effectively enforce import prohibitions against goods made using forced labor.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">It also called for USTR to insist on including the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s "rapid response" labor enforcement mechanism in future deals to ensure individual companies protect fundamental labor rights, including a prohibition on forced labor.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0.9375rem 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.125rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: black;" class="">"Ending forced labor is not only a moral imperative, but a necessary step to ending a form of unfair competition that drags down wages and standards for workers everywhere," Feingold wrote.</span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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