Obama says he is confident Congress will approve TPP
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he is confident his administration will be able to win approval from Congress for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. The United States is one of 12 Pacific Rim nations to reach a pact this week that would liberalize commerce, affecting the costs of products ranging from dairy to biotech drugs. But U.S. lawmakers, as well as those in the other countries, must approve the deal first. Obama will have to overcome skepticism from Democrats in his own party as well as from some Republicans. "I'm also confident that the case to be made for why this is good for America is sufficiently strong, that ultimately we're going to get this done," Obama said in brief public remarks to a group of business leaders at the U.S. Agriculture Department. Obama said he plans to make a broad case to the public on the merits of the TPP deal, as well as to mayors, governors and other constituencies. He was scheduled to do two radio interviews on the subject on Tuesday. "This week marks an important step forward, but there's going to be a long healthy process of discussion, consultation before this ever comes to an actual vote," Obama said. (Reporting by Julia Edwards; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu)
