The United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations reached agreement Monday on the largest free-trade accord in a generation, an ambitious effort led by the Obama administration to knit together economies across a vast region.
The deal capped more than five years of arduous negotiations on a project central to President Obama's economic agenda and potentially hands him a legacy-defining victory late in his presidency.
The deal "helps define the rules of the road for the Asian-Pacific region" for decades ahead, U.S. Trade Representative Michael B. Froman told journalists.
Though Opponents of the deal, including labor unions, environmental groups and liberal Democrats, have pledged to mount a final campaign to block the accord on Capitol Hill.
The TPP represents the largest U.S. trade pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1993.
