(VOVworld) – US President Barack Obama said on Monday that China’s pushing for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP demonstrated the urgent need for Congress to approve the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.  

US President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents Association's annual dinner in Washington, U.S., April 30, 2016 (Photo: Reuters)

Obama said the TPP would enable the US to take control of trade with Asia and that’s the reason for the US government to work with the Congress for the approval of the TPP. President Obama has been pushing to finalize the TPP before he leaves office on January 20, but he needs to overcome strong anti-trade sentiment from both the left wing of his own Democratic Party as well as from the right flank of the Republican Party. Voter anxiety over the impact of trade deals on jobs and the environment has featured large in the campaigns for the November 8 presidential election. In an opinion piece published on the website of the Washington Post on Monday, Obama said he understood voter skepticism but that "building walls to isolate themselves from the global economy" would backfire on the American economy.