TPP

Former Costa Rica foreign trade minister Anabel González says eventual membership in the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) mega trade pact would benefit Costa Rica, just as DR-CAFTA has.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a tentative agreement on trade negotiated by a dozen Pacific-rim nations, will slightly pry open Japan's famously closed rice market, protect brand-name drugs from generic competitors for at least five years and lower tariffs on automobiles.

Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal early Monday on creating the world's largest free trade area, delivering U.S. President Barack Obama a major policy triumph.

ATLANTA, Georgia – Officials from 12 countries including the United States, Japan and Australia appeared close to a deal on an ambitious Pacific Rim trade pact Saturday as negotiations went into the second day of overtime.