This IS foreign policy: Obama pushes for TPP deal by November [View all]

[cali]

U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday he hopes to have an agreement on framing a vast pan-Pacific trading block by the time he makes his next visit to Asia in November.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would encompass 40 percent of the global economy and include 12 nations. Talks on setting up the pact have been delayed by intricate market access negotiations between Japan and the United States.

Obama said he discussed the latest timeline for the deal with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key in the Oval Office, and that he hoped to have a related “document” by the end of the year.

“My hope is that by the time we see each other again in November, when I travel to Asia, we have got something that we have consulted with Congress about, that the public can take a look at,” Obama said, though he warned there was a lot of work still to be done on an agreement.

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/21/business/economy-business/obama-pushes-for-tpp-deal-by-november/#.U6ax5UAnPfY

Skeptics Aside, Obama Steams Toward Pacific

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/06/20/skeptics-aside-obama-steams-toward-pacific-deal/