Obama urges 'major progress' this year on US-EU trade pact

Obama also dismissed concerns that the controversial negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), as well as another key trade pact with Asian nations, would cause deep political fissures in the United States, saying the pacts would "absolutely" benefit American workers. "Now that Congress is considering bipartisan legislation, TTIP negotiations need to make major progress this year," Obama told a joint press conference alongside visiting Italian