Deal Reached on Trade Pact

A dozen Pacific-rim nations including the U.S. and Japan agreed early Monday to a massive free-trade pact that would cut trade barriers and set new labor and environmental standards, setting up a potentially contentious ratification vote before a skeptical Congress.

The U.S., Japan and 10 countries around the Pacific reached a historic accord Monday to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set commercial rules of the road for two-fifths of the global economy.

Pacific trade ministers have reached a deal on the most sweeping trade liberalization pact in a generation that will cut trade barriers and set common standards for 12 countries, an official familiar with the talks said on Monday.