Barack Obama's top Asia adviser: goal is for complete trade pact in 2015

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama's top Asia adviser on Wednesday said the president's request for trade promotion authority shows the administration's goal is to complete the trade pact with Asia this year.

Evan Medeiros, senior director for Asia at the U.S. National Security Council, asked about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at an event at the Brookings Institution, said: "We are confident we can and we will get it done."

"The president made very clear last night that TPA (Trade Promotion Authority) and TPP is now a top presidential priority and now is the time to get it done," he said, referring to Obama's annual speech on Tuesday.

"The U.S. is in the end game of its negotiations with its TPP partners ... The fact that the president has now requested TPA from Congress is a political statement that the goal is to get it completed in 2015," he added.

The major trade pact with Pacific Rim trading partners would link 12 countries from the United States to Japan and New Zealand and cover nearly 40 percent of the world economy.