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WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is being told to stay strong on trade by people who aren’t normally his allies.

Bernie Sanders and other members of the anti-NAFTA left are holding a news conference on Capitol Hill this morning.

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As negotiators from the three countries meet in Washington, progressive Democrats are demanding that the president drive a hard bargain.

Sanders expressed support for hardball U.S. negotiating positions like increased Buy American protections, and he wants to go even farther than Trump and end the investor-state dispute mechanism entirely.

He also wants Trump to go farther on labour standards and to end incentives to outsource jobs.

Sanders says poorly designed trade deals are one of the factors that have devastated U.S. manufacturing communities in recent decades, and led to greater inequality between haves and have-nots.

The one thing he and his allies are not doing, at least not at this point: demanding that Trump cancel NAFTA.

The talks have gotten off to a rough start with a wide gap in positions between the countries, leading to speculation that in the new year, Trump might make good on his threat to begin the withdrawal process.