NEARLY HIS ONLY:

In a dramatic, last minute-breakthrough, trade ministers from a dozen countries in the Americas and Asia-Pacific reached a deal on Monday to secure a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.  Should it be ratified by domestic legislatures, the landmark deal will represent the biggest regional free trade agreement in history, and is the largest trade deal struck since the 1994 completion of the Uruguay Round which created the World Trade Organisation.

The deal is important not just because the 12 countries--the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam--encompass around 40 per cent of world GDP.  In addition, TPP has an important rules-setting component and President Barack Obama has asserted that the treaty will enable Washington, rather than Beijing, to create the foundation stone for "21st century trade rules," including standards on trade, investment, data flows and intellectual property.

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