The TPP’s origins, pre-dating Amari’s involvement, go back to a 2006 trade agreement among only Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, and Brunei – the so-called “Pacific 4.” The United States, Australia, Peru, and Vietnam, seeing the prospect of a rules-based international order in Asia, joined the talks in March 2010, and in an instant the P-4’s small boat became a great ocean liner.
TPP的原型可以追溯到甘利明加入谈判之前的2006年的所谓“太平洋4”（P-4）贸易协定。该协定只包括了新加坡、新西兰、智利和文莱。美国、澳大利亚、秘鲁和越南看到有望在亚洲建立基于规则的国际秩序，于2010年3月加入了谈判，于是，P-4的小船立刻变成了巨大的远洋巨轮。