Obama Should Woo Japan to Join Pacific Trade Pact
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Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- As U.S. President Barack Obamaprepares for his State of the Union address, he has a chance todeliver a surprise message that would strengthen relations witha major ally, improve his leverage with congressionalRepublicans, and give a positive jolt to U.S. and internationalmarkets. It would take only one sentence. Obama could announcethat he fully supports Japan joining the Trans-PacificPartnership negotiations.
Now covering 11 economies that together conduct more than$1 trillion of trade each year, the TPP is a multinational free-trade agreement started by Brunei, Chile, Singapore and NewZealand a decade ago. The Obama administration notified Congressin late 2009 that it would be joining the talks.