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How the Trans-Pacific Partnership could define President Obama's legacy

In agreements reached on Monday, the TPP could become the largest free-trade pact in over 20 years. 

The 12-nation free-trade pact, named the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), came to agreement after five years of negotiations Monday. The largest trade accord since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, the TPP could represent a 鈥溾�� for President Obama, should it successfully pass in Congress next year.

The pact initially began in the mid-2000s, when Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore began discussing a tiny regional trade pact. But in his last term, former President George W. Bush joined discussions and the agreement grew to eight nations.

The nationwide recession forced Mr. Obama to put negotiations on hold, but the United States re-joined the discussion in 2010. 鈥淭he White House鈥檚 support helped draw in additional countries, including Japan, the world鈥檚 third-largest economy, whose entry in 2013 helped ,鈥� reported the Washington Post.

Today, the agreement seeks to interlock US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru and Vietnam, which together account for 40 percent of the world鈥檚 gross domestic product. 聽

TPP effectively eliminates tariffs between the member countries, 鈥渢ear[s] down a host of non-tariff barriers and .鈥� According to the US Trade Representative鈥檚 , TPP 鈥渨ill help increase Made-in-America exports, grow the American economy, support well-paying American jobs, and strengthen the American middle class.鈥�

Described as a 鈥溾�榟istoric agreement鈥� that addresses economic and international trade 鈥榗hallenges faced in the 21st century鈥欌�� by US Trade Representative Michael B. Froman, the pact 鈥渉elps for the Asian-Pacific region,鈥� reported the Washington Post.

For Obama, the deal could represent a historic effort to protect not only commerce, but the economy and the environment as well and specifically ensure US competitiveness amid a growing China.

In a speech at the United Nations in New York last week, Obama remarked, 鈥淲e can through trade that meets a higher standard. And that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership.鈥�

The 鈥渁greement will open markets while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the environment that enables development to be sustained,鈥� Obama said.

By eliminating over 18,000 tariffs, Obama鈥檚 administration hopes the TPP will 鈥渕ake sure [US] farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small businesses 鈥� in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world.鈥�

But opposition is widespread. Public Citizen, a nonprofit advocacy group that aims to 鈥�,鈥� claims TPP is a 鈥渕assive, 鈥� agreement 鈥渂eing pushed by big corporations鈥�:

The TPP would expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 鈥榯rade鈥� pact model that has and job loss, downward pressure on wages, unprecedented levels of inequality and new floods of agricultural imports ... The TPP not only replicates, but expands NAFTA's special protections for firms that offshore US jobs. And US TPP negotiators literally used the 2011 Korea FTA 鈥� under which exports have fallen and trade deficits have surged 鈥� as the template for the TPP.

While US officials have maintained that chapters in the agreement provide provisions for protecting worker and environmental rights, opponents are not convinced. 鈥淭he deal could from the price of cheese to the cost of cancer treatments,鈥� wrote Reuters.

With such potentially widespread impact, many are concerned as discussions have been kept behind closed doors. Pieces of the have been leaked, and one particular provision has spurred controversy.

Known as the 鈥淚nvestor-State Dispute Settlement鈥� (ISDS), the provision allows foreign investors to 鈥渂ring claims for money damages over violations of the TPP鈥檚 investor protection provisions before a that operates outside the challenged government鈥檚 court system,鈥� reported the Atlantic.

TPP critics demand that the Obama administration prove the provision is constitutional, suggesting the provision could 鈥� that an independent federal judiciary was created to ensure.鈥�

In an op-ed published by The Washington Post, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts said the Trans Pacific Partnership 鈥渨ould .鈥� Yet she maintained that the alleged discrepancies of the TPP are not partisan.

In response, The United States Trade Representative鈥檚 Office ",鈥� reported The New York Times. 鈥淎dministration officials said opponents were using hypothetical cases to stoke irrational fear when an actual record exists that should soothe worries.鈥�