Obama Warns China Will Fill Void If Trade Authority Fails

U.S. President Barack Obama looks on during a meeting with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Guinean President Alpha Condé, and Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma in the Cabinet Room of the White House April 15, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images
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President Barack Obama, trying to sway free-trade skeptics among his supporters, said that if the U.S. can’t come to terms on an accord being worked on with other Pacific nations, China will step in to fill the void.

Asia has the globe’s most populous and fastest growing markets and the U.S. has to have access to sustain economic growth, Obama said at a White House news conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.