CHICAGO: Failure to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal would be a major setback for US interests in Asia as Washington seeks to deepen alliances in the region, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday, urging Congress to ratify the pact. The 12-nation Pan-Pacific trade deal championed by President Barack Obama has been pilloried by both major-party nominees in the US presidential race, Democrat Hilary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. “If we see the TPP rejected, it would be a gigantic self-inflicted wound - a setback to our own interests in the region,” Kerry told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, in remarks that drew a smattering of applause and boos. Republican leaders have said there is no point in bringing the trade deal for a vote in the “lame-duck” session of Congress after the election. Kerry said the trade deal was a “litmus” test of Washington’s capacity to lead and was necessary if the United States wanted a steady and reliable presence in the region.

Source: New Strait Times October 27, 2016 00:56 UTC