President Barack Obama calls to break TPP logjam

BARACK Obama has pressed world leaders to break stubborn logjams that have held up an agreement on a trans-Pacific trade deal.

Barack Obama with Singapore’s President Lee Hsien Loong.

BARACK Obama has pressed world leaders to break stubborn logjams that have held up an agreement on a trans-Pacific trade deal that is eagerly sought by the White House and could lead to rare consensus with congressional Republicans.

“This has the potential for being a historic agreement,” the US President said as he opened the trade talks being held on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Ahead of Mr Obama’s arrival in China, the White House had downplayed the prospect that an elusive deal would be reached during his eight-day, three-nation trip to the region.

Following the leaders’ meeting, a senior administration official said the negotiations continued to make progress, but there was still no final agreement. The leaders had not set a timetable for finalising the pact, he added.

In a joint statement following the meeting, leaders from the 12 nations involved in the trade talks said they had been encouraged by recent progress.

“We remain committed to ­ensuring that the final agreement reflects our common vision of an ambitious, comprehensive, high-standard and balanced agreement that enhances the competitiveness of our economies, promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, spurs economic growth and prosperity and supports job creation in our countries,” the statement read.

Mr Obama has made the Trans-Pacific Partnership a centrepiece of his efforts to boost US economic investment in Asia, which he said in Beijing was “the fastest-growing, most populous, most dynamic region in the world economically”.

The results of last week’s US mid-term elections had made the political climate in Washington more conducive to international trade pacts. While some members of Mr Obama’s Democratic Party are wary of the impact trade deals could have on US labour unions, Republicans have been supportive of giving the President authority to speed up approval of a final pact by making it harder for lawmakers to make changes.

Disputes between the US and Japan on market access for their major industries have been at the heart of the stalemate over the trade deal. China is not a party to the trade talks.