"I think clearly there will be a delay. I think we should not conclude now that it is finished," he said. "I've been talking to my associates in Washington D.C. The reality on both sides is that people are very unclear on what exactly will happen."
President Barack Obama reportedly hoped to have the deal approved by the US Congress before he turns over the White House to Trump. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that the US Congress would not vote on the agreement during the lame-duck session.
"Some have suggested to me that by their own calculations if Washington were to proceed regardless of whether or not there was a change in the administration it still might take two years to be finalized through the US Congress. The reality is that no one can tell which way it will go."
US president-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly lambasted TPP and other international trade deals as damaging for the US economy. TPP, he said, is a "disaster" pushed through by special interests and a "a continuing rape of our country."
"Trump has been forthright in saying he is not happy with this particular arrangement," Oxley said. "The reality is that no one knows precisely what's going to happen. … Certainly, it won't be done quickly. That's one thing we can be quite clear about."
Oxley further said that the next US administration could well backtrack on some of the proposed policy measures that Trump had mentioned during the election season.
"Many of the things that Trump's administration has claimed it would do, would be quite difficult to achieve," he said. "I think some of the rhetoric during the campaign was not practical. … I doubt there will be a wholesale overturning of established practices."
