US President Barack Obama has launched a defence of a signature Pacific trade pact kept largely under wraps, saying the public will get its say before MPs in each country debate the full details.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a mega-regional accord covering four-tenths of global GDP, was so complex it would not have materialised if all interest groups were involved in the protracted talks, Obama said on Friday.
"If you are negotiating with 12 countries and there's no space for everyone to agree on the deal ... then it would never get done," the US president said during a forum at a Kuala Lumpur University.
"The nature of the trade agreement is so many interests are involved, so what we've done instead is close the initial deal, it's subject to review .... each country then has to ratify and it's subject to the legislatures."
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Obama was responding to a question from a Malaysian youth who said the TPP was elitist and excluded most voices.
Barring occasional leaks, details of the TPP have been kept secret during the more than five years of negotiations, angering those affected by its broad implications.
"I still have to get it past Congress," Obama added.
"I believe it's a good deal and we'll get it done, but there's no guarantee."
The pact could come up against some opposition in Washington.
Obama has long championed the deal but needs to muster support among moderates to ensure ratification.
He recently said it would allow the US to "write the rules of the road" for 21st century trade, but warned: "If America doesn't write those rules, then countries like China will."
The pact covers countries including Japan, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia, and would slash tariffs between them and set common standards on issues ranging from workers' rights to intellectual property protection.
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