	Overview

The Obama Administration has pursued the proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations as the primary economic component of its "strategic rebalance" of U.S. foreign policy priorities to the Asia-Pacific region. The 12 participating countries announced the conclusion of negotiations and released the text of the agreement in late 2015, and signed the proposed FTA on February 4, 2016. Congress had an active role in the TPP negotiations through oversight, consultations with the Administration, and formal negotiating objectives established in Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation. Ultimately, Congress would need to pass implementing legislation before the TPP could take effect in the United States. In broad terms, however, arguments about the TPP's strategic importance relate to the United States using the agreement as a tool to exert influence in the region and beyond, in both economic and broader political and security spheres, and creating conditions that facilitate other U.S. policy tools. Such arguments maintain that through the TPP, the United States can
strengthen regional alliances and partnerships; maintain U.S. leadership and influence in the Asia-Pacific region; enhance U.S. national security; liberalize trade, encourage market-oriented reforms, and drive economic growth; strengthen regional and potentially global trade architecture; and establish and update regional trade rules and disciplines consistent with U.S. interests and modern commercial realities. China is not a TPP member, but features prominently in analysis of U.S. influence in the region. Some opponents of the agreement argue that focusing on the strategic elements of the TPP distracts the debate from what they view should be its main criteria: the agreement's potential impact on the U.S. economy. Geo-Political Arguments Surrounding TPP

Since the end of World War II, the United States has advanced trade agreements and institutions such as FTAs to promote its broader foreign policy goals. To some observers, TPP is an important test of U.S. credibility as a regional leader. The proposed agreement is the Obama Administration's signature economic initiative in the Asia-Pacific region. Administration officials argue that the agreement is a key signal that the United States is actively integrated into Asia's economic and diplomatic structures. However, when elaborating on security rationales for supporting passage of TPP, many of the agreement's backers do not identify specific, concrete ways that a successful deal would invigorate U.S. security partnerships in the region. The flip side of this argument is that many Asian policymakers—correctly or not—could interpret a failure of TPP in the United States as a symbol of the United States' declining interest in the region and inability to assert leadership. The TPP and U.S. Trade Policy

The TPP may also have implications for U.S. influence on regional and global efforts to shape trade and investment. Proponents argue that the rules established in the TPP will promote economic growth and advance U.S. interests by influencing trade regimes at several levels:
encouraging market opening and economic reforms among TPP's current members, particularly in emerging markets such as Malaysia and Vietnam; creating incentives for other Asia-Pacific nations to follow suit, to match the preferential access that TPP member countries would gain in major markets such as the United States and Japan; and addressing new trade barriers through new trade rules and disciplines, laying groundwork to influence and potentially spur future multilateral or plurilateral negotiations at the WTO or future FTA negotiations, and update critical gaps in existing trade rules. This led eventually to the establishment of the international rules-based trade architecture of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the successor to the GATT. In addition, the existing ASEAN FTAs often do not include or have less extensive intellectual property rights, investment, and labor and environmental provisions than the TPP. Some analysts go further, arguing that China is attempting to create a regional order that seeks to minimize U.S. presence and power and that TPP is a necessary means of countering this effort. By encouraging a diverse group of nations to accept the rules and disciplines contained in the TPP, the argument holds, the United States will have reinforced U.S. leadership in the region, given space to Asia-Pacific leaders who seek greater economic and (perhaps) political reform, and encouraged a group of nations to adopt a more U.S.-supportive foreign policy outlook. Are the potential strategic benefits of the agreement contingent on its ability to drive economic growth and prosperity? If other initiatives are advisable, which nations or multilateral groups should be targeted? Congress also may wish to consider whether it is strategically important that TPP expand to include other countries outside the region. Implications for the Multilateral Trading System.
On February 4, 2016, Ministers of the 12 countries participating in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations signed the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). TPP is one of the Obama Administration's signature trade policy initiatives, an effort to reduce and eliminate trade and investment barriers and establish new rules and disciplines to govern trade and investment among the 12 countries. TPP proponents, including Administration officials, argue that the proposed TPP would have substantial strategic benefits for the United States in addition to its direct economic impact. They argue that the agreement would enhance overall U.S. influence in the economically dynamic Asia-Pacific region and advance U.S. leadership in setting and modernizing the rules of commerce in the region and potentially in the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Congress plays a key role in the TPP. Through U.S. trade negotiating objectives established in Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation and informal consultations and oversight, Congress has guided the Administration's negotiations. Ultimately, Congress would need to pass implementing legislation if the concluded agreement is to take effect in the United States.
The geo-political arguments surrounding TPP are widely debated, as are the arguments about its potential economic impact. To some, the TPP is an important litmus test of U.S. credibility in the Asia-Pacific region. As the leading economic component of the Administration's "strategic rebalancing" to the region, the TPP, proponents argue, would allow the United States to reaffirm existing alliances, expand U.S. soft power, spur countries to adopt a more U.S.-friendly foreign policy outlook, and enhance broader diplomatic and security relations. Many Asian policymakers—correctly or not—could interpret a failure of TPP in the United States as a symbol of the United States' declining interest in the region and inability to assert leadership.
Some critics argue that TPP backers often do not identify specific, concrete ways that a successful deal would invigorate U.S. security partnerships in the region, and that an agreement should be considered solely for its economic impact. They maintain that past trade pacts have had a limited impact on broad foreign policy dynamics and that U.S. bilateral relations are based on each country's broader national interests.
The Administration is also pursuing strategic economic goals in the TPP. Through the agreement, proponents argue, the United States can play a leading role in "writing the rules" for commerce with key trading partners, addressing gaps in current multilateral trade rules, and setting a precedent for future regional and bilateral FTA negotiations or multilateral trade talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The core of this argument is the assertion that the TPP's potential components—including tariff and non-tariff liberalization, strong intellectual property rights and investment protections, and labor and environmental provisions—would build upon the U.S.-led economic system that has expanded world trade and investment enormously since the end of World War II.
Although most U.S. observers agree it is in the U.S. interest to lead in establishing global and regional trade rules, less consensus exists on what those rules should be, yielding some criticism on the strength and breadth of various TPP provisions. In addition, some argue that crafting new rules through "mega-regional" agreements rather than the WTO could undermine the multilateral trading system, create competing trading blocs, lead to trade diversion, and marginalize the countries not participating in regional initiatives.
China is not a TPP member, but features prominently in discussion of the agreement's potential strategic effects. Some argue that China is attempting to create a regional order that seeks to minimize U.S. presence and power. In this line of reasoning, the TPP serves as a counter to growing Chinese economic and political influence, implying that failure to conclude TPP could, in effect, allow China to shape regional rules of commerce and diplomacy through its own trade and investment initiatives. Others, however, argue that TPP is complementary to other FTAs and trade agreements throughout the region, including those championed by China, and that new members—possibly including China—will be critical for the TPP to influence regional norms.
Trade agreements occur at the intersection of foreign and domestic policy, which can create tensions in balancing competing policy priorities. Key issues Congress faces as it continues its role regarding TPP include (1) how strongly to weigh geo-political implications of TPP; (2) the potential impact of the TPP on the multilateral trading system and other trade and economic institutions; and (3) the possible expansion of the agreement to include additional members.