Now that a trade agreement has been reached by the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, the White House said it would also welcome a European trade deal but there is "more work to be done." White House spokesman Josh Earnest said conversations with European countries around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are not as advanced as those that led to the agreement with Pacific nations. "The negotiations around TTIP are not quite as advanced, but if there is an opportunity for us, based on our consultations with our friends in Europe, to reach an agreement that would have the same kind of economic potential for American businesses and American workers, then we wouldn't hesitate to pursue it," Earnest told reporters. President Barack Obama has called for a U.S.-EU trade deal since 2013, but European leaders have struggled to win public support.