US to launch free trade talks with EU

US President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that the United States and Europe will launch talks on what would be the world's largest free trade zone. "Tonight, I am announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union -- because trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs," Obama said in his State of the Union speech. The move answered mounting calls from Europe to pursue a grand trade pact to spur growth on both sides of the Atlantic -- covering a region where two-way trade hit $646 billion last year.