BORACAY, Philippines, May 24 (Reuters) - The United States is optimistic a deal to set up a free trade zone across the Pacific will be concluded soon, with sensitive issues likely to be ironed out when its Congress resumes sessions, the top U.S. trade official said on Sunday.
"We are very much in the end-game," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters after a two-day trade ministers' meeting on the Philippine island of Boracay.
"Our negotiators are working as we speak, and working through issues, we hope to conclude it soon," Froman said. "We want to make sure we conclude it consistent with the principles we've laid out."
The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will cover about 40 percent of the world's economies, took a major step forward on Friday when the U.S. Senate agreed to give President Barack Obama powers to speed up U.S. approval of trade deals.
The TPP, which will include economies from Japan to Chile, is part of Obama's so-called pivot to Asia, a strategy to counter China's rising economic and diplomatic influence.
After the U.S. Senate vote, the battle shifts to the U.S. House of Representatives where opposition is deeper to "fast-track" legislation granting the president powers to negotiate trade deals that Congress can approve or reject but not amend.
A divisive issue in the U.S. Congress centred on a proposed amendment involving sanctions on currency manipulation by trading partners. The Senate rejected that amendment, which opponents said would violate international trade rules and sink the pact.
REUTERS
