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The partnership includes the US, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. All together, these countries represent 40% of the world's GDP.
Proponents argue that the deal includes provisions that will raise regional standards on labor, environmental regulations, and intellectual property.
The deal has major geopolitical implications for the US. China, which is conspicuously absent from the list of signatories, would likely see its influence in the region diminished, allowing the US to assert itself as a trade leader.
President Obama has made TPP a priority for his final months in office, and is hoping he can push it through Congress with the help of pro-trade Republicans like John Kasich and Mitch McConnell. But the deal has plenty of detractors.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both say they oppose TPP. It's one of the few issues on which they are in agreement. Notably, both oppose the deal at a time when protectionism has grown quite popular stateside as American workers continue to worry about losing jobs to other countries.
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Where Trump stands on TPP
Donald Trump's opposition to TPP is consistent with his hardline antitrade message, but breaks from decades of Republican orthodoxy on the issue.
Trump has objected to TPP throughout his campaign, and has vowed to tear up the deal if he is elected president. At a June rally in Ohio, Trump referred to the deal as "a continuing rape of our country" and "the deathblow for American manufacturing."
The Republican candidate blames American economic hardship on increased globalization, andclaims TPP would "kill millions of jobs."
He has expressed similar concerns over NAFTA, and has vowed to scrap the agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico to protect and restore American jobs.
Trump has frequently reminded the public of Clinton's previous support of TPP, as well as Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's assertionin July that Clinton would support TPP if elected president. McAuliffe later walked the statement back.