Obama says US will join Asian free-trade area
The United States announced Saturday it will join a trans-Pacific free-trade area, giving a major boost to a proposal to expand it and signaling that Washington will resist protectionism despite the global downturn.
President Barack Obama made the announcement first in Tokyo, and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk cited the decision minutes later in Singapore at a conference of Asia-Pacific business and government leaders. Washington's decision to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a free trade agreement among Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei - was welcomed with loud applause in Singapore. (AP)
