Obama: `The U.S. should write the rules for 21st century trade`

President Barack Obama has declared that the U.S. will take lead in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and not give trade supremacy to China.

At the radio weekly address on Saturday (local time), he said, “Right now, China wants to write the rules for commerce in Asia. If it succeeds, our competitors would be free to ignore basic environmental and labor standards, giving them an unfair advantage over American workers. That`s why we have to make sure the United States -- and not countries like China -- is the one writing this century`s rules for the world`s economy.”

President Obama stressed the swift signing of TPP, the most important economic agenda, urging the Congress to grant his administration Trade Promotion Authority, which is required for the signing. Against the ascendant power of China, he was highlighting his determination once again that the U.S. will not lose its leadership in global economic order.

Following the State of the Union address in January, the U.S. president emphasized the importance of TPP signing in the “2015 Economic Report of the President” released last week, targeting to finish the negotiation during the first half of this year before the presidential election campaign begins. The combined GDP of 12 countries such as America and Japan that are taking part in the negotiation accounts for some 40 percent of the global GDP.