WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Tuesday, US Senate Democrats voted against Obama’s TPP legislation by a 52-14 margin. The section of the legislation that was blocked is Obama’s fast-track authority, which would let the President negotiate free trade deals and bypass congressional amendments.
“They had a constructive session and discussed the need to advance legislation to give the President the [fast track] authority he needs to complete negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the release said on Tuesday.
The TPP is set to become the largest free trade deal, involving 12 countries from the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, Japan, Mexico and Canada. The deal is expected to cover about 40 percent of the global economy.