Washington's big opportunity on securing historic trade deals in 2015

IF one wishes to see in the new year more initiatives to liberalise global trade, then 2015 is looking good. Indeed, when it comes to trade policies, the political stars are being aligned in Washington.

In the White House sits a centrist Democratic President committed to the principles of free trade who has pledged to conclude two gigantic global trade deals - the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 12 Pacific nations, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union (EU) - perhaps as early as this year.

At the same time, the Republicans are going to take control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate this month, and their pro-business leaders insist that they plan to enact legislation that promotes free trade, including the TPP and the TTIP that are now in the last stages of negotiations between the United States and its trade partners.