The long and rocky road to the TPP

FOR those of us who are not political junkies or trade experts and those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the legislative process on Capitol Hill, making sense of the recent debate over President Barack Obama's trade policies would have been a mission impossible.

After all, it was only a few weeks ago that the headlines were screaming that the White House's ambitious trade agenda was "dead" after President Obama's efforts to win a "fast track" authority to conclude trade deals was blocked by the majority of the Democrats in the House of Representatives.

In fact, after six years, during which many of his policy initiatives have been stymied by an obstructionist Republican opposition, there was a certain mind-bending element when it came to the White House's political and legislative manoeuvres to advance its trade policies.