Historic Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement reached

It took five years and countless hours of negotiations, but an agreement has finally been reached over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The deal between the US, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and seven other Pacific-rim nations was signed Monday and is the largest trade deal in two decades.

It will cover 40% of the global economy, according to the Financial Times, and will create a new Pacific economic bloc with reduced trade barriers for everything from beef and dairy to textiles and pharmaceuticals.

Representatives have been negotiating over the past six days in Atlanta in what has been seen as a final attempt to get the deal completed.

It has been a slow process, with sticking points including patents for new “biologic” pharmaceuticals and access to New Zealand’s dairy in countries like Canada, Japan and the US.

The negotiations have also been met with disquiet over the years, with protests over the secrecy of the detail in the negotiations.

However while the agreement has been signed by the 12 nations, it still has to be ratified by the members’ governments, which may be a difficult task for some.

In the US, Barack Obama has to get the through Congress before it can be ratified, which may be a political nightmare according to the Financial Times.

The US President can only sign it in January at the earliest as he has to give 90 days’ notice to Congress that he intends to sign any trade deal.

On top of that, it might be the middle of the year before Congress takes up any bill due to other requirements, and it has a presidential campaign to contend with.

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has already blasted the deal, even before it was signed.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America’s business,” he said earlier this year. “This is a bad deal.”

Canada’s Prime Minister will also be facing a struggle, with an election in two weeks where one of his opponents has promised to tear up the free-trade agreement.