	Introduction1

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed regional free trade agreement (FTA) under negotiation between the United States and 11 other countries. Current participants include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. Congress may also establish U.S. trade negotiating objectives as part of its granting of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to the executive branch. These include 
achieving a comprehensive and high standard regional FTA that eliminates and reduces trade barriers and increases opportunities for U.S. trade and investment; allowing the United States to play a role in developing a broader platform for trade liberalization, particularly throughout the Asia-Pacific region; and providing the United States with an opportunity to establish new rules on emerging trade issues, such as regulatory coherence, supply chain management, state-owned enterprises, and increasing trade opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses. This report focuses primarily on U.S. economic interests in the TPP agreement. It provides a comparative economic analysis of the countries currently negotiating the TPP and describes the U.S. trade flows with these countries at the bilateral level and in relation to the countries' economic linkages with the rest of the world. It is home to 40% of the world's population and nearly 60% of global GDP. Moreover, the region's economies are growing quickly. Non-U.S. TPP partners collectively represent a potential market with a population about 50% larger than the United States and several TPP economies have grown rapidly over the past decade (e.g. New and Potential TPP Participants

One of the United States' expressed interests in the proposed TPP FTA is its potential expansion to include other Asia-Pacific economies. To date the expansion of the negotiations has included only APEC members. Japan's entry into the agreement is particularly significant. Japan is the third-largest economy in the world, the fourth-largest U.S. trading partner, and not party to an existing U.S. FTA, as opposed to Canada and Mexico, which are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Japan is now the second-largest country participating in TPP, both in terms of population (127 million) and GDP ($4.6 trillion). In addition, TPP countries have a number of bilateral and regional FTAs in effect, of varying degrees, some of which include other TPP negotiating partners. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN is another major regional economic partnership that includes TPP countries. U.S. trade with TPP partners was larger than the level of U.S. trade with South Korea, the largest of the recent U.S. FTA partners, by a factor of fourteen in goods trade in 2014 and a factor of nine in services trade in 2013. As the largest country in the TPP, both in terms of population and GDP, U.S. trade with TPP partners accounts for much of the trade among TPP countries. As mentioned above, the FTAs the United States already has in place with six of the TPP countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Singapore) include investment provisions. The United States, the TPP country with the largest population and economy, and, hence, the largest domestic market, has a trade-to-GDP ratio of 30%, indicating that trade accounts for a smaller share of economic activity in the United States than in any other the TPP countries. Conclusion

The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA would be a significant FTA for the United States and could eventually become the platform for a broader Asia-Pacific free trade area, an area that encompasses 40% of the world's people and over half of global production. TPP would be the largest U.S. FTA based on trade flows, and with the entry of Japan, a significant share of U.S.-TPP trade is not currently covered by an FTA. Due to the great diversity among the TPP participants, there may be challenges in achieving a comprehensive and high standard agreement.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed regional free trade agreement (FTA) among 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. The negotiating parties describe the TPP as a proposed "living agreement," which seeks to cover new trade topics and to include new members that are willing to adopt its high standards. The ongoing negotiations, which TPP country trade ministers have repeatedly announced are in the final stages, may progress more quickly with the recent congressional grant of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to the Obama Administration.
The TPP negotiations are of ongoing interest to Congress. Congressional involvement includes consultations with U.S. negotiators on and oversight of the details of the negotiations, and eventual consideration of legislation to implement the final trade agreement. In assessing the TPP negotiations, Members may be interested in understanding the potential economic impact and significance of TPP and the economic characteristics of the other TPP countries as they evaluate the potential impact of the proposed TPP on the U.S. economy and the commercial opportunities for expansion into TPP markets.
This report provides a comparative economic analysis of the TPP countries and their economic relations with the United States. TPP negotiating partners encompass great diversity in population, economic development, and trade and investment patterns with the United States. This economic diversity and inclusion of fast-growing emerging markets present both opportunities and challenges for the United States in achieving a comprehensive and high standard regional FTA among TPP countries.
The proposed TPP and its potential expansion are important due to the economic significance of the Asia-Pacific region for both the United States and the world. The region is home to 40% of the world's population, produces nearly 60% of global GDP, and includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Including Canada, Mexico, and Japan, TPP negotiating partners made up 37% of total U.S trade in 2013, and the Asia-Pacific economies as a whole made up 57%. The TPP would be the largest U.S. FTA to date by trade value.
The United States is the largest TPP market in terms of both GDP and population. In 2014, non-U.S. TPP partners collectively had a GDP of $10.6 trillion, just over 60% of the U.S. level, and a population of 486 million, about 50% larger than the U.S. population. Japan's entry (pop. 127 million and GDP $4.6 trillion) increased the significance of the agreement on both these metrics.
Unlike most previous U.S. FTA negotiations, the TPP involves countries with which the United States already has an FTA. The United States has FTAs in place with Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Singapore, which together account for over 82% of U.S. goods trade with TPP countries. Japan is by far the largest U.S. trade partner among TPP members without an existing U.S. FTA.
Other TPP partners also have extensive existing FTA networks. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam are members, and its collective FTAs with other countries, accounts for the bulk of this interconnectedness. Moreover, ASEAN agreements with larger regional economies (e.g., China, India, Japan, and South Korea) present a second possible avenue for Asia-Pacific economic integration; albeit one that currently excludes the United States.