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NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Talks drag on longer than expected President Trump’s push to revamp trade deal stokes ‘unease’ in Lone Star State By Tom Benning DA LLAS MORNING NEWS
Texans in Congress are growing ever more anxious over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement as the Trump administration’s halting deliberations with Mexico and Canada drag on
longer than many had hoped. That worry is not altogether new, given that President Donald Trump has long threatened to withdraw from an agreement he’s called the "worst trade deal ever made." But top Texas lawmakers felt compelled in recent days to urge the White House’s trade
team to remain at the negotiating table with America’s neighbors, especially as the highstakes discussions bear the helter-skelter hallmarks of Trump’s broader trade agenda. Self-imposed deadlines that come and pass. Bargaining positions that change by the day or even by the hour. In-
stability that is forcing some Texas businesses to put off expansion plans. "There’s some unease with regard to the administration’s philosophy and policy on trade," said Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican. "NAFTA is a good thing. . Why would we want to ruin this great economic recovery we’ve seen by creating more uncertainty and havoc?" Such discomfort is all the more magnified in Texas. Trade - and NAFTA, in par-
ticular - is rare among major political issues in uniting many of the state’s Republicans and Democrats. The reason is obvious: Texas is home to about 1 million jobs supported by trade with Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lawmakers in both parties agree that NAFTA could be improved. Some remain optimistic about that kind of outcome. But Trump tests that resolve NAFTA continues on A10
SCRIPPS NATIONAL
NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
Texans win big at Spelling Bee finals
A LAREDOAN IS AMONG THE DISAPPEARED
By Ben Nuckols A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
OXON HILL, Md. — The end of the biggest Scripps National Spelling Bee in history came abruptly, and it wasn't the conclusion that many expected. Naysa Modi, a poised and charismatic four-time participant whose long spelling career seemed to be building toward triumph, sat next to a newcomer whom she had already beaten this year — at the county level. But 12-year-old Naysa blinked immediately, mixing up the single and double "s'' in the German-derived word "Bewusstseinslage" — a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components — and 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani seized an opportunity that he wouldn't have had before this year. "I didn't really think I'd be able to do it," the soft-spoken winner said. "I had confidence that I could do it, but I honestly didn't realistically think it could happen." Karthik's victory Thursday night put the spotlight back onto the story of this bee week — the new wild-card program that Scripps launched to give a chance to spellers like him, who have to compete against some of the nation's best spellers at the local level. The field was expanded to 515 spellers to accommodate the wild cards — there had never been more than 300 competitors previously — and four of the 16 primetime finalists got in through the new program, known as "RSVBee." When only three spellers remained, all were from the Dallas area, which has long been a hotbed of spelling talent. Karthik is from McKinney, Texas — his family moved there specifically so Bee continúa en A5
Eduardo Verdugo / Associated Press
FILE - In this May 10, 2018 file photo, women carry a banner calling attention to the cases of people who have gone missing in the fight against drug cartels and organized crime, demanding authorities locate their loved ones, as they mark Mother's Day in Mexico City. According to federal data, there have been more than 6,000 registered disappearances in Mexico's Tamaulipas state alone since 2006, more than any other state. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
UN group documents 23 people who went missing in border area By Christopher Sherman ASSOCIATED PRE SS
MEXICO CITY — Jessica Molina has not seen or heard from her husband since March, when Mexican marines broke through their door in Nuevo Laredo and took him and a friend away. Molina, a U.S. citizen, said Wednesday that her 41-year-
old Mexican husband, Jose Daniel Trejo Garcia, is a mechanic with an established business in Laredo, Texas, where they live. They were only in Nuevo Laredo because she had recently had surgery in Monterrey and was returning to have stitches removed. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on Wednesday called on the Mexican government to “take urgent measures to stop the wave of forced disappearances in Nuevo Laredo and surrounding areas” and said “there are strong indications” that they were committed “by a federal security force.” The U.N. office documented the disappearance of 23
people since the start of February in Nuevo Laredo and said there could be many more. While it did not name those missing, Trejo Garcia is among those counted by the non-governmental Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee. “We have documented 56 forced disappearances from Missing continues on A10