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Obama has made the 12-nation TPP the centerpiece of a diplomatic
"pivot" to Asia, but the prospects for U.S. congressional
approval have looked increasingly dim, with both major
presidential candidates - Democrat Hillary Clinton and
Republican Donald Trump - standing opposed.
Administration officials had said that Obama would make the case
for the TPP during his visit to Asia, including in a speech he
has scheduled in Laos on Tuesday.
"I don't have to sell it to Asian leaders here who were part of
the negotiations because they see this as the right thing to do
for their own countries," Obama told reporters at the close of
the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
"And what I'll be telling them is that the U.S. has never had a
smooth, uncontroversial path to ratifying trade deals, but they
eventually get done," Obama said.
"Back home we'll have to cut through the noise once election
season is over. It's always a little noisy there," he said.
The White House has said it could still win congressional
approval of the trade pact before Obama leaves office, and
warned that failing to do so would undermine U.S. leadership in
the region and allow China to increasingly set the terms of
world trade.
(Reporting by Michael Martina, Roberta Rampton and Elias Glenn;
Editing by Richard Balmforth)
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