The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) among the United States and 11 Asia-Pacific countries. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has described it as a "comprehensive and high standard" agreement, designed to eliminate and reduce trade barriers and to establish and extend the rules and disciplines of the trading system among the parties to the agreement (see Figure 1 ). If implemented, it would be the largest plurilateral FTA by value of trade, encompassing roughly 40% of world GDP, and could serve further to integrate the United States in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region. As a "living agreement," it has the potential to negotiate new rules and expand its membership. It could also mark a shift to the negotiation of "mega-regional" trade liberalization agreements in lieu of bilateral FTAs and broader multilateral trade liberalization in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The 12 countries concluded the TPP negotiations and released the text of the agreement in late 2015. Trade ministers from the TPP countries signed the final agreement text on February 4, 2016, and several countries are seeking to ratify the agreement this year. TPP draws congressional interest on a number of fronts, and Congress must approve implementing legislation for U.S. commitments under the agreement to enter into force. The TPP would be eligible to receive expedited legislative consideration under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), P.L. 114-26 , unless Congress determines the Administration has failed to advance TPA negotiating objectives, or has not met various notification and consultation requirements. Furthermore, the TPP may affect a range of sectors and regions of the U.S. economy and could influence the shape and path of U.S. trade policy for the foreseeable future. It may also serve strategic goals of the United States by strengthening regional alliances and extending U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region. This report examines the key provisions of the proposed TPP, related policy and economic contexts, and issues of potential interest to Congress. The precursor to the TPP was the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (P-4). It was conceived in 2003 by Singapore, New Zealand, and Chile as a path to trade liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region—Brunei joined in 2005—and the P-4 agreement was concluded in 2006. U.S. trade policymakers took notice of the P-4's relative ambition as a possible template for a wider Asia-Pacific free trade agreement. President Bush notified Congress of his intention to negotiate with the existing P-4 members on September 22, 2008, along with Australia, Peru, and Vietnam, on December 30, 2008, as required under past and current TPA. President Obama recommitted to the TPP negotiations in November 2009 and renotified Congress of the Administration's intention to negotiate the renamed Trans-Pacific Partnership. In October 2010, the TPP participants agreed by consensus to the inclusion of Malaysia as a negotiating partner. The negotiating partners announced a framework for the agreement at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial in Honolulu, HI, November 8-13, 2011. Thereafter, Canada, Mexico, and Japan consulted with the existing TPP partners on joining the negotiations. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners—Canada and Mexico–acceded to the negotiations in December 2012, followed by Japan in July 2013. During the course of the negotiations, others countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines expressed varying degrees of interest in joining, but the parties decided to conclude the agreement before contemplating new members. The agreement must be ratified by all parties to enter into force in the first two years from its 2016 signing. Thereafter, it requires at least six countries representing 85% of the bloc's 2013 gross domestic product (GDP) to accede to the agreement for it to take effect, thus requiring ratification by the United States and Japan for entry into force to occur. The Bipartisan Comprehensive Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-26 ), the current grant of TPA (TPA-2015), sets the procedures governing congressional consideration of the proposed TPP. TPA is the authority by which Congress, for specific periods of time, sets trade negotiating objectives, establishes notification and consultation requirements, and enables implementing legislation for reciprocal trade agreements to be considered under expedited procedures if it meets certain statutory requirements. TPA-2015 was enacted into law on June 29, 2015, and expires in 2018, with a possible extension to 2021. Legislation to implement the TPP can be considered under the expedited procedures of TPA, since the TPP was signed during the time TPA has been effect. The TPP could be considered under expedited procedures during this Congress, the next Congress, or even after the present grant of TPA expires. TPP was signed and the final text of the agreement was released on February 4, 2016. Following signature, under TPA, implementing legislation can be introduced 30 days after the release of the final text of the agreement on a day when both Houses are in session. That day was March 14, 2016. The President notified Congress of the changes to U.S. law that TPP implementation would require on April 1, 2016. A TPA-required report by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) on the potential economic effects of the agreement was released on May 18, 2016. Once the President submits the legislation for introduction, TPA sets a 90-legislative-day deadline for congressional consideration with set periods for committee and floor consideration by the House and Senate. The TPP could have significant implications beyond its direct economic impact, in what many term as broader "strategic" contexts. Obama Administration officials and other TPP proponents argue that these implications would be positive and felt in several ways, both geo-economic and geo-political. Though such implications are hard to define precisely, proponents of the TPP's strategic importance suggest that the United States could use the agreement as a tool to exert influence in the region and beyond, in not only economic, but also broader political and security spheres. Administration officials regularly emphasize the TPP's strategic value in arguing for its approval. USTR Ambassador Froman said in a 2014 speech: TPP is as important strategically as it is economically. Economically, TPP would bind together a group that represents 40 percent of global GDP and about a third of world trade. Strategically, TPP is the avenue through which the United States, working with nearly a dozen other countries (and another half dozen waiting in the wings), is playing a leading role in writing the [trade] rules of the road for a critical region in flux. Secretary of State John Kerry wrote in 2015: TPP also matters for reasons far beyond trade. The Asia-Pacific includes three of the globe's four most populous countries and its three largest economies. Going forward, that region is going to have a big say in shaping international rules of the road on the Internet, financial regulation, maritime security, the environment, and many other areas of direct concern to the United States. Remember that, in our era, economic and security issues overlap; we can't lead on one and lag on the other. Overall, proponents maintain that through the TPP, the United States can further a wide range of goals, including the following: liberalizing trade, encouraging market-oriented reforms, and driving economic growth; establishing and updating regional trade rules and disciplines consistent with U.S. interests and modern commercial realities; potentially strengthening the global trade architecture; strengthening regional alliances and partnerships; maintaining U.S. leadership and influence in the Asia-Pacific region; and enhancing U.S. national security. In terms of economic influence, some observers argue the TPP may present an alternative to FTAs constructed by other countries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Such agreements often exclude or have less extensive provisions on agriculture, services, investment, and intellectual property rights (IPR), which some see as among the most important FTA provisions for certain U.S. sectors; moreover, these agreements generally have few if any binding protections for worker rights and the environment. The TPP could provide participating governments political cover to enact reforms relating to these and other provisions, presenting them as a tradeoff for greater access to the large U.S. market. While debate continues, both in the United States and abroad, over the appropriate scope of various TPP provisions and the degree to which they differ from other regional pacts, some policymakers argue that the TPP would provide the United States with leverage to help shape regional and, perhaps, broader multilateral economic norms. In the geo-political realm, some analysts consider the TPP to be a litmus test for U.S. credibility in the Asia-Pacific region. Proponents argue the TPP signals the primacy of U.S. integration into Asia's economic and diplomatic structures, suggesting that congressional inaction or rejection of the TPP would make the Administration's rebalancing strategy look relatively weak and the United States look divided on how important it considers its leadership role in the region. Similarly, many Asian policymakers—correctly or not—could interpret a failure of the TPP in the United States as a symbol of declining U.S. interest in the region and its inability to assert leadership. Some critics of the TPP assert that such arguments are overstated, and that the strength or weakness of broader bilateral political and security relationships depend more on countries' assessment of their political and security interests than on whether they have a trade agreement with the United States. China is not a TPP member, but its emergence as a regional economic power with active overseas trade and investment initiatives forms an important backdrop to the TPP's consideration.