Commenting on the revived momentum for an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, SMU Associate Professor of Law Henry Gao, who has researched China's trade policy, said that "The TPP will be quite different from what the U.S. originally envisaged," due to the diverse and conflicting interests of its members. "It's probably going to be watered down slightly, but it's a U.S.-led initiative and the Americans can still make things happen," Associate Prof Gao said. Even so, "if a deal isn't done by next year, it could get dragged out much longer as President Obama leaves office."