Gold is not here, but in Asian-Pacific

The United States and eight Asian-Pacific nations reached Saturday a broad agreement that would facilitate liberalization of trade among the countries.

The agreement is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It is designed to remove tariffs to facilitate free-trade between the United States and Asian-Pacific countries.

One of the focal points in the agreement that media frame is a relationship between the United States and China. While the United States attempted to attract Asian-Pacific nations by saying that the United States would keep its economic primacy, President Hu Jintao competed the vision by saying that China would transform into an innovative country that has potential and capital, the Washington Post reported.

The Washing Post said that China must abide by rules, but does not clearly mention what the rules are, but the New York Times reported what rules the United States asked China to follow. It said that Obama said China would have to adjust their currency rate accordingly and improve intellectual property rights.

While both companies mainly focus on China, The New York Times features different angles. It said that the agreement is important for the United States in term of political debates and 2012 re-election because GOP presidential candidates have criticized Obama through bashing economic relationship between the United States and China. Also, in the meeting, security concerns about Iran's nuclear program rose.

On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal deals with what the agreement means to Japan, which is not covered by the Washington Post and the New York Times. The agreement is beneficial for export-oriented countries like Japan because the pact would facilitate competition in the sector of electronics and auto companies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Liberation of trade does not necessarily mean that it generates benefits for Japan. Japanese opponents of TPP said that liberation of trade would have impacts on agriculture and universal health insurance, the Wall Street Journal reported.

However, the Wall Street Journal shows to what extent agriculture contributes to the economy. It said that Agriculture only occupies 1.4 percent of the economy while manufactures occupy 20 percents. It costs $60 billion for the Japanese government to protect farmers from overseas agricultural products through tariffs and other policies.