Federal Government Policy and Business

U.S. and 11 Nations Close to Accord on Trade Pact

The New York Times: ATLANTA — The United States and 11 Pacific Rim nations appeared close to agreement Sunday on the largest regional trade accord in history, a potentially precedent-setting model for global commerce and worker standards that would then face months of debate in Congress – amid both parties’ presidential contests.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership — eight years in the making, including five days of round-the-clock sessions here — would phase out thousands of import tariffs as well as nontariff barriers to trade. It would also establish uniform rules on corporations’ intellectual property, open the Internet even in communist Vietnam and crack down on wildlife trafficking and other environmental abuses.

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